BROOKLYN, N.Y. --- The Eastern College Athletic Conference has released its Division I Volleyball All-Conference honors and LIU Brooklyn was well-represented among the league's selections.
Junior Viktoria Fink and sophomore Natalia Rivera were both named to the All-ECAC First Team while junior Nina Petranovic was selected to the Second Team. Combined, LIU was the only school to have three student-athletes earn spots among the All-ECAC teams and major award winners.
Fink earned LIU's tenth Northeast Conference Player of the Year award this season,the program's first since former great Annika Foit won three straight from 2012-14. An All-NEC First Team honoree, Fink leads the team with 3.47 kills/set and 344 total kills and is second on the team with 12 double-doubles.
Rivera was named NEC Tournament MVP and earned a spot on the NEC All-Tournament team.The second-year player won a league-high five Molten/NEC Defensive Player of the Week awards and added her name throughout the LIU record books. Entering the Blackbirds' NCAA match at Washington on Friday, Rivera is now 10th all-time in career digs (1028), second in single-season digs (617; 5.46/set, 2nd in NEC) and holds the single-match digs mark (40 vs George Washington, September 2, 2017).
In her first season at LIU after transferring from junior college, Petranovic earned All-NEC First Team honors after recording a team-high 15 double-doubles and placing second on the team with 3.06 kills/set and 333 total kills.
LIU's first round NCAA matchup with the eighth-seeded Huskies is scheduled for a 10:30 p.m. ET start on Friday, December 1.
ECAC Division I Women's Volleyball Awards and All-ECAC Selections
Offensive Player of the Year
Julia Cast – St. John's University, Sr., MB
Defensive Player of the Year
Belle Sand – Syracuse University, Sr., DS
Rookie of the Year
Alli Lowe – Colgate University, Fr., OH
Coach of the Year
Linda Sagnelli– Central Connecticut State University
All-ECAC First Team
Claire Archibald – Iona College, Jr., OH
VIKTORIA FINK – LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY-BROOKLYN, JR., OH
Khaila Donaldson – Howard University, Sr., OH
Julia Cast – St. John's University, Sr., MB
Alli Lowe – Colgate University, Fr., OH
Veronica Koval – Rider University, Sr., S
NATALIA RIVERA -- LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY-BROOKLYN, SO., L
All-ECAC Second Team
Kennedi Smith – University of New Hampshire, So., OH
Allie Loitz – Villanova University, Sr., OH
Santita Ebangwese – Syracuse University, Jr., MB
NINA PETRANOVIC – LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY-BROOKLYN, JR., OH
Allison Fitzgerald – Villanova University, Sr., DS/L
Julymar Otero – Towson University, Sr., RS/OH
Emma Aldaya – Rider University, Sr., DS
ABOUT THE ECAC
Established in 1938, the ECAC is the nation's largest Conference, ranging in location from Maine to Georgia, and westerly to Missouri. The ECAC hosts numerous championships in men's and women's sports across Divisions I, II and III, offering opportunities for thousands of student-athletes. For more information, visit www.ecacsports.com.