Jing Pu Honored as Volleyball BIG EAST Coach of the Year

PITTSBURGH, PA. – SU head coach Jing Pu was honored with the BIG EAST Conference’s Coach of the Year award and three Orange student-athletes earned all-conference honors at the conference’s annual awards banquet in Pittsburgh, Pa. on November 19, the eve of the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship.

Juniors Kelly Duan (Baotou City, China/Zhong Shan University) earned first-team honors, Kristen Conway (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic HS) was named to the second-team and Aila Dommestrup (Ottawa, Ontario/Sir Robert Borden HS) was selected as a honorable mention.

This is the second time Pu has been named the BIG EAST Coach of the Year. He also received the award in 1996. Pu guided SU to an 8-2 league record to finish the season in a tie for second in the conference and an overall mark of 25-6, SU’s highest win total since 1996.

Duan, Conway and Dommestrup played a key role in Syracuse’s return to the BIG EAST Championship this year, the first time since 1999. Duan and Conway anchored the SU attack all season, combining for 716 of the team’s 1,756 kills, while Dommestrup set up most of their attacks with 1,163 of the teams 1,528 assists. This is the first time that either players have garnered an all-conference award. This is the first time since 2000, when Dana Fiume was selected to the All-Conference first-team, that an SU player has received post-season BIG EAST accolades, and the first time that Syracuse has had three players named to an All-Conference team.

Duan finished the season tied for third in the conference with 0.37 service aces per game. In league matches, Duan had 153 kills to be tied for fifth in the conference with 4.14 kills per game. Duan moved into eighth on the career service aces list this season with 118 aces.

Conway finished the season second on the team with 344 kills and first with 3.58 kills per game. Conway is currently seventh on the SU all-time kills list and sixth on the SU career attacks list.

Dommestrup is a captain for the Orange and played in 30 matches this season. Dommestrup ranks third in the BIG EAST in assists and seventh in service aces.

The 25-6 Orange is the No. 3 seed in this year’s BIG EAST Championship. It will face No. 2 Pittsburgh in he 3:30 p.m. semifinal on Saturday, Nov. 20. Top-seed Notre Dame and No. 4 seed Boston College square off at 1:00 p.m. All games will take place at Pittsburgh’ Fitzgerald Field House. The title game will be played on Sunday, Nov. 21 at 1:00 p.m. The winner receives the BIG EAST Conference automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

Player of the Year: Megan Miller, Pittsburgh, Sr., Middle Hitter, Milford, Conn.

Libero of the Year: Allison Anderson, Boston College, So., Libero, Moraga, Calif.

Rookie of the Year: Diana Andreyko, Pittsburgh, Fr., Outside Hitter, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Coach of the Year: Jing Pu, Syracuse

All-BIG EAST First Team
Jamie Hadenfeldt, Connecticut, OH, Sr.
Lauren Brewster, Notre Dame, MB, Jr. *
Megan Miller, Pittsburgh, MH, Sr. *
Gini Ullery, Pittsburgh, OH, Jr.
Jackie Ahlers, St. John’s, OH, Jr.
Kelly Duan, Syracuse, RS, Jr.

* - denotes unanimous selection

All-BIG EAST Second Team
Katie Andersen, Boston College, OH, Sr.
Allison Anderson, Boston College, L, So.
Sara Albert, Georgetown, MB, Sr.
Lauren Kelbley, Notre Dame, OH, Jr.
Kristen Conway, Syracuse, OH, Jr.
Alison Zemanski, West Virginia, MB, Sr.

Honorable Mention
Verena Rost, Boston College, S, Jr.
Emily Loomis, Notre Dame, OH, Sr.
Diana Andreyko, Pittsburgh, OH, Fr.
Megan McGrane, Pittsburgh, L, Jr.
Lora Yankauskas, Rutgers, OH, So.
Aila Dommestrup, Syracuse, S, Jr.

Syracuse University Athletics

Jing Pu Honored as Volleyball BIG EAST Coach of the Year

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