Dearien, Daniels Highlight Seven Golden Eagles Named to All-Conference Teams
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (November 15, 2014) -- For the second time in her career, junior outside hitter Audrey Dearien was named to the Sooner Athletic Conference first team while sophomore setter Shayna Daniels joined Dearien on the top squad, capping off a total of seven Golden Eagles who earned All-Conference accolades, the conference office announced on Friday (Nov. 14).
Dearien, a native of Frisco, Texas, last earned first-team honors in her freshman season before landing honorable mention accolades last year. The junior outside hitter led JBU in terminations for the second time in three seasons, finishing with 416 kills in 119 sets played, averaging 3.50 kills per set. Dearien also set career highs in service aces (62), digs (370), kills per set and digs per set (3.10). Named the SAC Player of the Week back on Oct. 16, Dearien terminated a season-high 28 balls in JBU’s win over Texas Wesleyan on Oct. 11 and scooped up a career-high 25 digs in the Golden Eagles’ loss to Texas Wesleyan in the SAC tournament quarterfinals on Nov. 14.
Daniels, from Magnolia, Texas, earned first-team honors after finishing on the honorable mention list last season. Daniels turned in a career year by dishing out a personal-best 663 assists, 44 more than last season, and an career-high 262 digs. She landed SAC Player of the Week honors on Sept. 22 and launched a career-high 71 service aces, including a single-game program record high of 10 in John Brown’s upset win over Wayland Baptist on Sept. 26. Daniels passed around more than 20 helpers on 18 occasions this season and ended the 2014 campaign with a career-high 35 assists in JBU’s loss to Texas Wesleyan in the SAC tournament quarterfinals.
Joining Dearien and Daniels was senior defensive specialist Becca Young and junior middle hitter Libby Blasingame, both of which landed on the second team while junior outside hitters Tiffany Hunnicutt and Melissa Bakke accompanied sophomore middle hitter Molli Pugh on the honorable mention list.
Young, a native of Mt. Vernon, Iowa, earned her first-career All-Conference nomination after submitting 487 digs on the season, just 25 scoops shy of her career high set in her sophomore season (512). Additionally, she sent over a career-best 23 service aces and captured a personal-high of 4.10 digs per set. Young capped off her career by posting a career-best 28 digs in a loss to Texas Wesleyan in the SAC tournament semifinals on Nov. 14.
Hailing from Plano, Texas, Blasingame also collected her first-career conference honors as she pieced together a 176-kill season, averaging 1.5 terminations per set. Her blocking game returned to form as well this year, highlighted by 13 solo blocks and 71 block-assists to total 84. Blasingame posted a pair of 10-kill performances, both JBU victories, over Mid-America Christian (Okla.) and Ozarks (Mo.) on Oct. 17 and Nov. 4, respectively.
Hunnicutt, a native of Texarkana, Texas, and Bakke, of Bentonville, Ark., both landed their first-career All-Conference accolades while Pugh, of Little Rock, Ark., received conference honors for the second straight season.
Hunnicutt posted career highs in kills (229), attack percentage (.201), digs (39), solo rejections (7) and block-assists (53). Bakke chipped in with a career-best 270 terminations on the season and easily set personal-highs in digs (173) and solo blocks (6). After being named to the second team last season, Pugh followed up her career-setting freshman campaign with 178 kills, 13 service aces, nine solo blocks and 50 block-assists this year. She was much more efficient in her attack in 2014, bettering her 2013 mark of .203 percent to .271 percent this season.
The Golden Eagles finished the 2014 season with a 22-11 overall record and a 10-6 mark in conference play, earning an appearance in the conference tournament quarterfinals.
