Baylor Volleyball Earns Host of Big 12 End-of-Year Accolades

IRVING, Texas – The Baylor volleyball team has earned a multitude of end-of-year awards from the Big 12 Conference, announced Tuesday, highlighted by Averi Carlson being named Freshman of the Year.

Carlson is the third Bear to earn the freshman accolade, with Stevie Nicholas garnering it in 2000 and Yossiana Pressley in 2017. Hall of Famer Cory Sivertson, also a setter, earned it in 1991 as a part of the Southwest Conference, making Carlson the first setter to be bestowed the Big 12 accolade for Baylor.

The Lucas, Texas, product started and competed in every match, running a 5-1 offense for the Bears. She finished the regular season with 1,140 assists to lead the conference with 10.75 assists per set, ranking second in the Big 12 and top-25 of the NCAA. With her as the starting setter, Baylor finished second in the conference for assist average at 12.39. Carlson also served up 29 aces in the regular season while digging 196 balls and killing 35. The Lovejoy graduate has produced six double-doubles so far this season.

Carlson earned her fifth Big 12 Rookie of the Week honor Tuesday to surpass Yossiana Pressley for the most weekly awards earned by a Baylor freshman, also now tied for third in league history.

The Bears (23-6) had four named All-Big 12 First Team – Carlson, Lauren Harrison, Kara McGhee and Mallory Talbert, with McGhee being voted in unanimously.

This is Harrison’s third-straight first-team selection and McGhee’s second selection, though her first unanimous. Harrison had her 1,000th career kill this season, while McGhee had her 500th career block. It is Carlson’s and Talbert’s first All-Big 12 selection.

Harrison finished the regular-season in third for attacks per set in the Big 12 at 9.69, while being sixth in the conference for kills per set at .399. In league matches alone, she finishes fifth in kill average, 3.62, with her 188 kills over 52 sets.

McGhee now ranks sixth all-time in program history and third in the rally-scoring era for her career block number, going into the Sub-Regional with 514. The San Antonio native leads the conference in blocks per set at 1.50 while being top-10 in the nation. She also leads the league in total blocks with 159, coming in at 12th in the NCAA. McGhee earned two Defensive Player of the Week honors from the league this season for her blocking dominance.

In addition, McGhee and Talbert have ranked in the top five for hitting percentage in the league all season, finishing in fourth and second, respectively, with 0.399 and 0.379.

Talbert has tallied 90 blocks on the season, seven of them solo, while producing on offense as well with 205 kills. In her first year with the Bears, she has transitioned onto the team flawlessly and proved herself as a leader for BU. The graduate student averaged 1.99 kills per set for the regular-season.

Freshman opposite Allie Sczech was named All-Big 12 Second Team after finishing the regular season as one of the top blocking freshmen in the league. She tallied 90 blocks on the season, seven of them solo, to lead BU’s rookie class. She was named Rookie of the Week for the conference on Sept. 27 after leading the team in blocks, points and a then-season high in kills with 12. She also only had two errors on 23 attempts for a .435 attack percentage.

On the Big 12 All-Rookie Team are Carlson and Sczech, both unanimous selections.

The full list of 2022 Big 12 Volleyball award winners can be found here.

To keep up to date with Baylor volleyball all year long, follow the Bears on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook: @BaylorVBall.

2022 Big 12 End-of-Year Awards

Freshman of the Year – Averi Carlson*

All-Big 12 First Team

• Averi Carlson
• Lauren Harrison
• Kara McGhee*
• Mallory Talbert

All Big 12 Second Team

• Allie Sczech

All-Big 12 Rookie Team

• Averi Carlson*
• Allie Sczech*

* - unanimous