Volleyball Lady ‘Cats get shutout of MEC postseason honors

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – The Mountain East Conference announced its 2022 volleyball all-conference teams and major award winners.

Wheeling setter Karly Niesen was voted the Mountain East Conference Player of the Year in 2022, while West Liberty libero Nyia Setla was recognized as the Libero of the Year. Charleston middle hitter and right-side Reagan McLean was voted the 2022 Freshman of the Year, while her head coach, Tyler Kanelos was named the league’s Coach of the Year.

Niesen, a junior from Cincinnati, Ohio, leads the Mountain East Conference and currently ranks fourth in the nation in assists per set (11.61) this season. Her 1,207 total assists this season is also the best in the MEC and the fourth-most in NCAA Division II. The junior leads a Wheeling offensive attack that ranks second nationally in hitting percentage (.294), eighth in kills per set (14.27) and seventh in assists per set (13.22). Niesen was named the MEC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 31.

Setla, a sophomore from Northville, Mich., led the Mountain East Conference during the regular season and currently ranks third nationally in digs per set this season (5.86). Her 656 digs lead the conference and rank second nationally behind Jaedynn Evens of Central Oklahoma. In fact, the second closest player to her total in the Mountain East Conference has 96 fewer digs heading into this weekend’s conference tournament. With her standout performance on defense this season, West Liberty ranks 28^th in the country in opponent hitting percentage (.141). Setla is a three-time MEC Defensive Player of the Week in 2022.

McLean, a freshman middle blocker and right-side from Georgetown, Ky., was named the MEC Freshman of the Year after leading the MEC in both total blocks (133) and blocks per set (1.34) this season. She also chipped in 170 kills, 51 digs and scored 246.5 points for the University of Charleston as a freshman in 2022. She ranked fifth on the team in kills from her primary middle blocker position.

Kanelos, in his second season as the head coach at UC, led the Golden Eagles to a 30-3 overall record, including a 15-1 mark in conference play. Charleston won the MEC South Division Championship in 2022 and is hosting the Mountain East Conference Volleyball Tournament for the first-time ever this week. Charleston went 16-0 at home this season and finished the regular season on a 13-match winning streak. Charleston also ranked fourth in last week’s NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Rankings (Nov. 2).

In addition, the Mountain East Conference also announced its 2022 All-Conference and All-Freshman teams. The MEC all-conference teams and yearly award winners are selected following a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches.