Women's Volleyball All-Ivy - 2011

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Yale swept the Ivy League major postseason women's volleyball awards, as sophomore setter Kendall Polan (Cardiff, Calif.) was named Player of the Year and freshman outside hitter Mollie Rogers (San Diego) was selected Rookie of the Year by the League's eight head coaches.

It marks the third time in program history that the Bulldogs received both awards and the first time since 1993, when Pauline Mu was named Co-Player of the Year and Leigh Brezler was named Rookie of the Year.

Polan's award is her second-consecutive Ivy League major postseason honor as she was named Rookie of the Year last season. She is the first Bulldog to receive Player of the Year honors since Cat Daily in 2008. In 2011, Polan was unanimously voted first-team All-Ivy, marking the second-straight year she was named to the first team. She started all 24 matches for the Ivy League Champion Bulldogs, finishing with 100 kills, 943 assists, 25 aces, 299 digs, 33 blocks and zero reception errors. The sophomore set career-bests in assists, aces and blocks and led the League and ranked 46th nationally in assists. She was a two-time Ivy League Player of the Week (Sept. 6 and Oct. 4).

Rogers was a unanimous decision for Ivy League Rookie of the Year to give Yale back-to-back Rookie of the Year awards. The San Diego native was a League-high four-time Rookie of the Week recipient (Sept. 13, Sept. 20, Oct. 25 and Nov. 15). She led the Bulldogs with 267 kills and finished second on the squad with 286 digs. She also contributed 34 blocks, 26 assists and 19 aces. She finished the regular season ranked fourth in the League in points and sixth in kills per set. She was also a unanimous decision for first-team All-Ivy.

Besides Polan and Rogers, the All-Ivy first team included two other unanimous decisions, both from Princeton. Junior outside hitter Lydia Rudnick (Encinitas, Calif.) and senior middle blocker Cathryn Quinn (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) each were named first team for the second-straight year. Rudnick led the League and ranked 68th nationally in kills per set and ranked 65th nationally in points per set. Quinn finished second in the League in total kills with a personal-best 339.

Columbia junior outside hitter Megan Gaughn (Winter Park, Fla.), Dartmouth senior outside hitter Madeline Baird (Austin, Texas) and Penn sophomore libero Dani Shepherd (Los Angeles) rounded out the rest of the first team. Gaughn earned her third-consecutive All-Ivy honor while being named to the first team for the second-straight season. She led the Lions in kills (298) and aces (24) and finished third on the team in digs (266). Baird was a two-time League Player of the Week (Sept. 13; Oct. 25) and led the League in total kills with 344. She earned her fourth-straight All-Ivy honor. Shepherd received her first All-Ivy award after leading the conference and ranking third in the country in digs per set, averaging 6.2.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kendall Polan, Yale (So., S, Cardiff, Calif.)

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Mollie Rogers, Yale (Fr., OH, San Diego)*

FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY
Madeline Baird, Dartmouth (Sr., OH, Austin, Texas)
Megan Gaughn, Columbia (Jr., OH, Winter Park, Fla.)
Kendall Polan, Yale (So., S, Cardiff, Calif.)*
Cathryn Quinn, Princeton (Sr., MB, Pacific Palisades, Calif.)*
Mollie Rogers, Yale (Fr., OH, San Diego)*
Lydia Rudnick, Princeton (Jr., OH, Encinitas, Calif.)*
Dani Shepherd, Penn (So., L, Los Angeles)

SECOND TEAM ALL-IVY^
Heather Braunagel, Columbia (Jr., MB, Trumbull, Conn.)
Taylor Docter, Harvard (Jr., OH, Los Altos, Calif.)
Allie Frappier, Yale (Fr., OH, San Mateo, Calif.)
Madeleine Przybyl, Cornell (Sr., MB, Christchurch, Va.)
Erica Reetz, Yale (So., OH, Thiensville, Wis.)
Anne Villanueva, Dartmouth (Sr., MB, Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Ginny Willis, Princeton (Fr., S, Tampa, Fla.)
Christine Wu, Harvard (Sr., L, Naperville, Ill.)

HONORABLE MENTION ALL-IVY
Taylor Cramm, Yale (Sr., MB, Laguna Niguel, Calif.)
Savannah Fletcher, Columbia (So., MB, Freeland, Wash.)
Hilary Ford, Princeton (Sr., DS, Portola Valley, Calif.)
Annika Gliottone, Brown (Sr., L, Warwick, R.I.)
Amanda Pacheco, Penn (Jr., MB, Long Beach, Calif.)
Alissa Santa-Maria, Dartmouth (Jr., S, Yorba Linda, Calif.)

* Unanimous Selection
^ Due to ties in voting, second-team All-Ivy was expanded from six