Four Lewis-Clark State College players receive honors, including senior Anile Clemente, who was selected to the Frontier Conference Volleyball First Team for the third straight season, while Warrior coach Jennifer Greeny also won coaching honors for the third straight season, it was announced Thursday night.
At the social for the Frontier Conference tournament, conference commissioner Kent Paulson announced the awards, which were voted on by the league’s eight head coaches.
Clemente, a 5-10 outside hitter from Sao Paulo, Brazil, was joined on the First Team by teammate Dani Barrett, a 6-2 middle blocker from Port Angeles, Wash. Both players are seniors. Also, sophomore Lauryn Herrick, a 5-11 outside hitter from Cypress, Calif., was selected to the second team, while 5-2 libero Stephanie Shumaker of Covington, Wash., was selected to the All-Freshman squad.
Greeny, who led the Warriors to a 20-7 regular season mark and an 11-3 conference record, shared Coach of the Year honors with Carroll’s Maureen Boyle. LCSC, Carroll and Great Falls all tied for the regular-season conference title. It’s the third straight year LCSC has won outright or shared the conference title, which also coincides with Greeny winning the Coach of the Year honors outright the past two years and sharing it with Boyle this year.
During her three years at the Warrior helm, Greeny has posted a 76-19 record (.800 winning percentage).
“Anile, of course, is a huge part of our team,” Greeny said. “A lot of opponents keyed on her and I said at the beginning of the year the conference is much better this season and there are a lot of great players. Smetana had a fabulous year.”
Greeny said a lot of teams focused on stopping Clemente and because the Warriors featured a balanced attack, they went to other weapons to do the damage, including Barrett. She is third on the team in kills at 173 and hit a team-best 2.63 on the season. She also led the team in solo blocks at 13 and in total blocks at 48.5.
“Dani has worked so hard in the two years that she’s been here,” Greeny said. “The player she is now compared to the player she was when she came here is like night and day. All the work she put in the summer and the offseason really shows.”
Herrick had a solid season for the Warriors and stands second in kills at 175. She is hitting .205 on the season and is second in service aces with 39. she also is sixth on the team in digs.
Shumaker filled a key role for LCSC at the libero position when fellow freshman Kaylee Rector was lost for the season with an injury and junior Katie Hinrichs had to miss part of the year with a back injury. Shumaker was third on the team in digs and she also finished with seven service aces.
“I think it’s always great to have your players honored by fellow coaches,” Greeny said. “It’s tough with our team because we really spread things out on offense. We really have a balanced attack. I believe the awards are great, but it always takes a team effort, and I think the players who won the awards will tell you that.”
During the social, the Champion of Character winner from each team also was announced. The winner best exemplifies the five characteristics of respect, integrity, responsibility, sportsmanship, and servant leadership, which compose the core values of the program. Barrett was named LCSC’s winner of the award by the coaching staff.
Here are the Frontier Conference awards, followed by pairings for the conference tournament, which opens Friday at the LCSC Activity Center.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Christina Smetana, Carroll.
CO-COACH OF THE YEAR: Jennifer Greeny, LCSC, and Maureen Boyle, Carroll.
LIBERO OF THE YEAR: Tahnie Blymiller, Westminster.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Talita Kresser, Westminster.
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Kelsey Vanuden, Great Falls.
ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
Smetana, 5-10, senior middle blocker, Carroll.
Sammy Priddy, 6-0 junior outside hitter, Carroll.
Clemente, 5-10, senior outside hitter, LCSC.
Barrett, 6-2, senior middle blocker, LCSC.
Tosha Nunes, 6-1 sophomore outside hitter, Great Falls.
Cali Buck, 6-0 senior middle blocker, Great Falls.
Jennifer Petersen, 5-8 senior setter, Great Falls
Blymiller, 5-5 junior libero, Westminster.
Erika Evans, 5-10 junior outside hitter, Westminster.
Katie Daly, 6-0, junior middle blocker, Montana Tech
Sara Brunner, 5-9 sophomore, middle blocker, Rocky Mountain.
Kristin Barott, 5-11, sophomore, setter, Rocky Mountain.
SECOND TEAM
Maureen Frauenholt, 5-8 sophomore libero Carroll
Kaylee Bossert, ,6-0 junior middle blocker, Montana State-Northern
Lauryn Herrick, 5-11 sophomore outside hitter LCSC
Kelly Vanuden 6-2, freshman, outside hitter Great Falls.
Jillian Stanek, 6-1, sophomore, middle blocker, Rocky Mountain.
Jodi Hogart, 5-7, senior, setter, Montana Tech.
ALL FRESHMAN TEAM
Kelly Vanuden 6-2, outside hitter, Great Falls.
Allyse Cruise, 5-8 outside hitter, Montana Tech
Shersteen Cline, 5-10, outside hitter, Montana Tech.
Megan Evans, 5-8, setter, Westminster
Stephanie Shumaker, 5-3, libero, Lewis-Clark State
Jamie Elenbaas, 5-10, outside hitter, Rocky Mountain.
CHARACTER OF CHAMPION WINNERS
Katie St. John, Carroll
Dani Barrett, LCSC
Jordan Merrill, Montana State-Northern
Janet Friesz, Montana Tech
Theresa Bennett, Montana Western
Cali Buck, Great Falls.
Ashley Welborn, Rocky Mountain
Ericka Evans, Westminster.
The pairings for the conference tournament are below.
All matches at the LCSC Activity Center
All times Pacific
G1: Noon – No. 1 Great Falls (11-3, 25-8) vs. No. 8 Montana Western (0-14, 4-17)
G2: 2 p.m. – No. 4 Rocky Mountain (8-6, 19-10) vs. No. 5 Westminster (6-8, 9-19)
G3: 6 p.m. – No. 2 Lewis-Clark State (11-3, 20-7) vs. No. 7 Montana State-Northern (4-10, 7-13)
G4: 8 p.m. – No. 3 Carroll (11-3, 25-8) vs. No. 6 Montana Tech (5-9, 11-16).
Saturday’s pairings
G5: 11 a.m. – G1 winner vs. G2 winner.
G6: 1 p.m. – G3 winner vs. G4 winner.
G7: 7 p.m. – G5 winner vs. G6 winner (championship)
All times Pacific
G1: Noon – No. 1 Great Falls (11-3, 25-8) vs. No. 8 Montana Western (0-14, 4-17)
G2: 2 p.m. – No. 4 Rocky Mountain (8-6, 19-10) vs. No. 5 Westminster (6-8, 9-19)
G3: 6 p.m. – No. 2 Lewis-Clark State (11-3, 20-7) vs. No. 7 Montana State-Northern (4-10, 7-13)
G4: 8 p.m. – No. 3 Carroll (11-3, 25-8) vs. No. 6 Montana Tech (5-9, 11-16).
Saturday’s pairings
G5: 11 a.m. – G1 winner vs. G2 winner.
G6: 1 p.m. – G3 winner vs. G4 winner.
G7: 7 p.m. – G5 winner vs. G6 winner (championship)
