(December 1, 2008)--Juniors Taylor Barnes and Anna Breyfogle were each named to the All-Big 12 first-team, the league office announced on Monday afternoon. The All-Big 12 awards are selected by the league’s head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for their own players.
Jordan Larson of Nebraska becomes the first-ever winner of the league’s Player and Defensive Player of the Year Awards. Sydney Anderson of Nebraska was named Newcomer of the Year, while Michelle Kocher of Texas was named the Freshman of the Year. Iowa State’s Ashley Mass was named Libero of the Year, and John Cook of Nebraska earned Coach of the Year honors.
Barnes and Breyfogle each earn their first-ever All-Big 12 selection. Both were named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team, while Barnes earned preseason honors during the 2007 season. Baylor receives its first selection to the All-Big 12 first-team since 2001 when Stevie Nicholas earned first-team honors. It marks the first time since the 1999 season that Baylor received two firs-team selections joining Elisha Polk and Kia Young. In the league’s 13-years of existence, Baylor has had seven first-team selections and five honorable mention selections. Desiree Guilliard-Young was Baylor’s last all-conference nominee, earning honorable mention honors during the 2006 season.
Barnes saw action in all 31 matches and all 114 sets this season. She led the Bears with a .329 hitting percentage and 1,176 set assists, ranking fourth in the conference at 10.32 assists per set. She led the league with 49 service aces, the second time in her career to lead the Big 12 in aces. The 49 aces rank sixth in a single season at Baylor. She also tallied 292 digs and 52 total blocks.
This season Barnes posted 12 dig-assist double-doubles and recorded her first 20-dig match at home against Oklahoma. On two occasions she topped 50 assists in a match and hit at a .333 clip or better in 16 matches. Against TCU, she recorded eight kills on 10 errorless swings for a career-high .800 hitting percentage.
Breyfogle led the league with a 1.45 blocks per set average despite missing six matches with a dislocated shoulder. The blocks per set average ranks seventh in the nation this season and seventh on the all-time single-season list at Baylor. She also recorded 245 kills and was second on the team with 28 service aces.
On the season, Breyfogle tallied one kill-dig double-double and two kill-block double-doubles. She was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 5. She reached double-digit kills in 15 matches and had five or more blocks on 13 occasions. She hit at a .348 clip or better in 10 matches. She recorded a career-high eight service aces against Prairie View A&M, the best single-match total in the Big 12 this season and the second-highest mark in a three-set match in Baylor history.
Baylor concluded its 2008 season on Saturday with a 3-1 home loss to fourth-ranked Nebraska. Baylor finishes the season with its best overall record since 2001 and tied the 2001 conference record with nine Big 12 wins.
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