NEW ORLEANS – University of South Alabama volleyball head coach Jesse Ortiz was named the Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year and four Jaguars earned all-Sun Belt Conference honors, as announced by the league office on Wednesday.
Ortiz is the third Jaguar head coach to be voted SBC Coach of the Year, and joins Ritchie Ponquinette (1987) and Jim Smoot (1995) as the only South Alabama coaches to earn the honor in the program's history.
Jaguar setter Kailey Keeble was named first-team all-Sun Belt Conference, and Hannah Maddux, Maddie Soboleski and Kennedy Wallace were each named second-team all-SBC.
Keeble leads the Sun Belt in assists (1,073), which ranks 13th nationally, and tied for second in assists per set (10.52). In SBC matches, Keeble leads the league in assists (625), and ranks second in assists per set (11.16). She leads South Alabama with 16 double-doubles this season, nine of which came in Sun Belt contests, and has also recorded 45 total blocks. Keeble is the first Jaguar to earn first-team all-SBC honors since Kelley Hartman in 2019.
Keeble's assist per set total of 10.52 currently ranks third on the Jaguar single-season record list, while her assist total of 1,073 currently ranks fourth.
Wallace leads the Sun Belt Conference in hitting percentage (.393) overall, as well as in SBC matches (.386). She has recorded 175 kills in 101 sets as the most efficient hitter in the SBC this season, and posted a .333 hitting percentage or higher on 10 or more total attempts in 14 matches this season. Wallace has also recorded 94 total blocks entering the Sun Belt Championship. Wallace's current hitting percentage of .393 ranks as the highest in a single-season in the program's history, bettering Rebecca Walk's .377 percentage last year, and is also tops on the career list.
Soboleski ranks fifth in the SBC in total points (360) and service aces (30), seventh in average points per set (3.53) and tied for ninth in service aces per set (0.29). The Erie, Pa., native has recorded five double-doubles this season, which ranks second on the team. She finished with 10 or more kills in 17 matches this season, and has 54 total blocks entering the SBC Championship.
Maddux ranks eighth in the SBC in total points (198.5) in SBC matches, ninth in hitting percentage (.306) and 10th in average points per set (3.54). She has recorded 10 or more kills in 13 matches this season, including nine of her last 10 games. Maddux also has 61 total blocks entering the conference postseason tournament.
South Alabama will open play at the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Championship on Friday, at the Foley Sports Complex in Foley, Ala., as the top seed from the East Division.
South Alabama (22-6, 15-1 SBC) received a bye into the quarterfinals by capturing the SBC East Division, and will face the winner of Thursday's 2:30 p.m. match between Arkansas State and Georgia State.
The SBC Championship final is scheduled for Sun., Nov. 21, at 1 p.m. Every match of the tournament will be broadcast live through ESPN+.
The Jaguars finished with the league's best conference record to capture the program's first-ever SBC regular-season championship, and enter the SBC Championship with a 10-game win streak.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with USAJaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at Twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Rally Score Club, the volleyball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Rally Score Club go directly to support the South Alabama volleyball program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/rallyscoreclub.
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2021 Sun Belt Volleyball Awards
Player of the Year: Emily DeWalt, Texas State
Offensive Player of the Year: Janell Fitzgerald, Texas State
Defensive Player of the Year: Meisheia Griffin, Georgia State
Libero of the Year: Tatum Ticknor, Arkansas State
Setter of the Year: Emily DeWalt, Texas State
Newcomer of the Year: Cheyenne Jones, Coastal Carolina
Freshman of the Year: Ashlyn Lovett, Georgia Southern
Coach of the Year: Jesse Ortiz, South Alabama
First-Team All-Conference
Macey Putt, Arkansas State
Tatum Ticknor, Arkansas State
Laura Jansen, Little Rock
Ani Bozdeva, Coastal Carolina
Baylor Bumford, Georgia Southern
Meisheia Griffin, Georgia State
Kelsey Bennett, Louisiana
Kailey Keeble, South Alabama
Briana Brown, UTA
Emily DeWalt, Texas State
Janell Fitzgerald, Texas State
Julia Brooks, Troy
Second-Team All-Conference
Emma Reilly, App State
Doris Carter, Coastal Carolina
Cheyenne Jones, Coastal Carolina
Brigitta Petrenko, Coastal Carolina
Coco Gillett, Louisiana
Hannah Maddux, South Alabama
Maddie Soboleski, South Alabama
Kennedy Wallace, South Alabama
Alli Wells, UTA
Jada Gardner, Texas State
Tyeranee Scott, Texas State
Amara Anderson, Troy
