Montana senior Hannah Sackett, who transferred from West Virginia to play her final season of collegiate volleyball for her home-state Grizzlies, was voted the Big Sky Conference’s Top Newcomer this week by the league’s coaches.
Sackett, a 6-foot outside hitter, was also one of 12 players named first-team All-Big Sky. She was the only player on the first team whose squad did not make the Big Sky tournament, which is being played later this week at Flagstaff, Ariz.
The Grizzlies went 8-20 this fall and finished 10th in the Big Sky with a 4-12 league record.
Sackett, a 2012 Flathead High School graduate from Somers, played her first three seasons for the Mountaineers. She graduated in May and is in her first year of graduate school at Montana, where she is pursuing an MBA.
“Despite missing out on the tournament, I had a blast playing with this great group of girls,” said Sackett, the only Montana player represented on the first or second team. “I was able to play my final year in front of my friends and family, and I got to experience a completely new collegiate environment.”
Regular-season champion Northern Arizona placed three athletes on the 12-player first team, as did Idaho State, which takes the No. 3 seed into this week’s eight-team tournament.
NAU senior outside hitter Janae Vander Ploeg was voted MVP and earned her third first-team selection, as did ISU senior outside hitter Tressa Lyman, last year’s league MVP.
Portland State outside hitter Jenna Mullen was voted Outstanding Freshman, North Dakota senior McKenzie Hart, who leads the nation in digs, was named Libero of the Year.
Brian Doyon was named Montana’s volleyball coach in January. In the spring his program received a major boost when Sackett decided to play her final season with the Grizzlies.
“Right away Hannah stepped into a leadership role because of her past experiences and her abilities,” said Doyon. “And also because of the kind of person she is. She has an infectious personality that everyone can relate to. Because of that she became a natural leader on the court.
“It was great to have her come into the program. It made it easier for a first-year coach to have someone who’s been through high-level competition and been successful. It was almost like having a coach on the floor who could guide some of the athletes who don’t have the same experiences.”
Sackett led the team in kills with 467 (4.32/s), a total that ranks No. 4 in Montana single-season history and is the most for a Griz player since 1994. Her 31 kills in Montana’s five-set victory over Eastern Washington on Oct. 17 are the most for a Big Sky player this season.
She tied for second on the team with 21 service aces, ranked third in digs (2.06/s) and tied for third in blocks. She ranked second in the Big Sky behind Vander Ploeg in both kills and points.
Sackett, who nine times had 20 or more kills in a match, hit .248 on the season, an efficient percentage for any outside hitter. It’s an even more impressive number given what Sackett faced on the other side of the net every match out.
“I think Hannah got the votes she did because the other coaches saw her athleticism and her ability to terminate and be a strong, steady competitor,” said Doyon.
“All season she faced double and triple blocks as other teams tried to slow her down. She was always steady and got her kills, and did her job at a very high level. I think other teams found it very difficult to manage Hannah.”
Sackett is the 20th player in Montana history to be voted first-team all-conference.