Player of the Year King Among Six Lancer All-Conference Nods

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior Amari King (Lawrence, Mass.) was named the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, headlining five All-Conference selections for the Worcester State University women’s volleyball team. The announcement came from the conference office on Wednesday afternoon.

Along with the Player of the Year award, King was named to the All-Conference First Team with her teammates Emily Carens (Northborough, Mass.) and Megan Leavens (Storrs, Conn.). Allie Nolan (Melrose, Mass.) and Stephanie Chapin (Hampden, Mass.) were named to the All-Conference Second Team.

Also honored on Wednesday was head coach Bernie Chase, who was named the MASCAC Co-Coach of the Year.

King, a senior outside hitter, recorded 312 kills this season, good for second in the conference. She was also second in the conference in kills per set with 3.15 and hitting percentage at .283. King also contributed defensively, with 339 digs, good for fifth in the conference. King was named the MASCAC Player of the Week four times this season and this is her second consecutive year on the MASCAC All-Conference First Team.

Carens, also a senior outside hitter for the Lancers, put together her third consecutive All-Conference First Team season. Carens logged a career high .236 hitting percentage, good for fourth in the conference. She was third in the conference in kills per set with 2.84 and kills with 270 this season. Carens also hit a huge milestone this season with her 1,000th career kill. Her efforts earned her MASCAC Player of the Week honors twice.

As a senior libero, Leavens led the conference in digs per set with 4.89 and digs with 504 this season. This is her second straight year representing the Lancers on the All-Conference first team. This season, Leavens set the Worcester State all-time record for career digs with 1,282 in only three seasons.

Nolan, a senior setter for the Lancers, earned her second All-Conference recognition by leading the conference in assists per set with 10.02. She was named to the All-Conference First Team last season and added a Second-Team award this season. Nolan set a career high in assists per set, shattering her mark of 9.26 from last season. She became the Lancers’ all-time leader in assists with 2,850.

Chapin earned her first All-Conference selection this season as a junior middle blocker. Chapin led the conference in hitting percentage with a terrific .350. She was also sixth in the MASCAC in kills with 240, good for second on the team.

The group helped lead the Lancers to a 23-10 record, including a 7-0 record in the conference in which they did not drop a single set all season. The performance earned them the top seed in the conference tournament, where they won their second consecutive MASCAC championship.

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