High Point’s Savannah Angel Named Big South Women’s Volleyball Freshman of the Year

HIGH POINT, N.C. – Savannah Angel was named the Big South Freshman of the Year, one of four High Point University volleyball players to earn accolades in an announcement by the league on Tuesday. Chelsea Davis was named to the All-Conference first team and Kristin Heldt and Maddie Simpson were named to the second team.

Angel, a middle blocker from Rock Hill, S.C., hit .320 while averaging 1.52 kills per set with 74 total blocks in her rookie season. She was also named to the All-Freshman team. Angel was named Big South Freshman of the week a league-leading four times this season. She led all freshmen in the conference with 17 solo blocks and 74 total blocks during the season.

During conference play Angel raised her hitting percentage to .364, the third-best mark in the league, making her the only non-senior to crack the top five.

Angel is the third Panther to take home Freshman of the Year honors, joining Tracyann Pryce (1999) and Lindsey Pickens (2003).

Davis led the league in kills since week two of the season, averaging 4.16 kills per set to earn a spot on the All-Big South first team. That is the second most in a single season at HPU. Davis also averaged 2.74 digs per set and tied for the team lead with 17 solo blocks. She tallied 12 double-doubles and had seven 20-kill matches.

Davis tallied her 1,000th career kill against Charleston Southern on Nov. 15 and is just 80 digs away from 1,000. She had a career-high 29 kills in a five-set win at Coastal Carolina.

Heldt took home second team honors for the second straight year. The junior averaged 3.13 kills and 2.10 digs per set. Against Big South opponents, Heldt raised her kills per set. 3.44 while putting up 22 blocks. Heldt had 11 double-doubles on the season, with nine against league teams.

Simpson set a Big South single-game record with 72 assists in the final weekend of the regular season. She averaged 9.49 assists per set for the year, improving to 10.2 assists per set in league play. She tallied 10 double-doubles while averaging 2.20 digs per set and .58 blocks per set. Simpson led the Panthers with 33 service aces this season.

Sophomore Wavie Chin was named to the Big South All-Academic team. She has a 3.52 GPA in Strategic Communication while playing every match for the Panthers. The defensive specialist averaged 1.82 digs per set while serving up six aces.

The Panthers enter the 2013 Big South Championship in Clinton, S.C. as the No. 3 seed. HPU will face No. 6 Winthrop in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 5 p.m. High Point swept Winthrop at home on Oct. 18, 3-0 (25-10, 25-21, 25-23).

2013 Big South Volleyball Awards
First-Team All-Conference
Rachel Wiechecki, OH, So., Radford
Chelsea Davis, OH, Jr., High Point
Irene Ojukwu, OH, Sr., Winthrop
Gabrielle Horvath, OH, So., Coastal Carolina
Kindra Bailey, MB, Sr., Coastal Carolina
Jade Craycraft, S, Sr., Liberty
Emma Deininger, MB, Jr., Radford
Anna Moore, MB, Sr., UNC Asheville
Rachel Wells, LIB, Sr., UNC Asheville

Second-Team All-Conference
Cheyanne James, OH, So., Radford
Andrea Barman, MB, Sr., Presbyterian College
Kristin Heldt, RS, Jr., High Point
Maddie Simpson, S, Sr., High Point
Lian Bernett, OH, R-So., Coastal Carolina
Lauren Alejo, S, Sr., Coastal Carolina
Mary Trimpe, LIB, Sr., Presbyterian College

All-Freshman Team
Savannah Angel, MB, R-Fr., High Point
Brianna Starr, OH, Fr., Gardner-Webb
Nzea McQuitery, MB, Fr., Liberty
Shelby Erickson, OH, Fr., UNC Asheville
Brianna Gray, MB, Fr., Winthrop
Kelby Jackson, LIB, Fr., Radford
Jordan Watson, OH, Fr., Radford

All-Academic Team
Heather Wilson, S, Sr., Campbell
Meredith Parrott, MB, So., Charleston Southern
Lauren Alejo, S, Sr., Coastal Carolina
Heather Feldman, S, Jr., Gardner-Webb
Wavie Chin, DS, So., High Point
Becca Haraf, DS, Sr., Liberty
Andrea Barman, MB, Sr., Presbyterian College
Emma Deininger, MB, Jr., Radford
Christine Lakatos, OH, Sr., UNC Asheville
Rachel Lenz, MB, So., Winthrop

Player of the Year
Rachel Wiechecki, OH, So., Radford

Freshman of the Year
Savannah Angel, MB, R-Fr., High Point

Coach of the Year
Marci Jenkins, Radford

Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Emma Deininger, MB, Jr., Radford