Three Spartans Receive ASUN Volleyball Postseason Honors
11/15/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
2017 ASUN Volleyball Postseason Awards
2017 ASUN Volleyball All-Academic Team
Nashville, Tenn. – The USC Upstate volleyball team had three student-athletes receive postseason honors from the ASUN Conference on Wednesday evening as Madison Haake, Lily Dempsey and McKenna Kirkpatrick were recognized for their performances both on and off the court at the league's championship banquet.
Haake was an ASUN Second Team All-Conference performer at the setter position and earned her second straight spot on the All-Academic Team. Dempsey and Kirkpatrick were both unanimous selections to the ASUN All-Freshman Team.
Haake picks up her second consecutive ASUN Second Team All-Conference accolade while Dempsey and Kirkpatrick become the sixth and seventh players, respectively, to be named to the All-Freshman Team.
A native of Bartelso, Ill., Haake has a 3.85 grade-point average and is majoring in computer information systems. She was voted to the ASUN All-Academic Team last season. This year, Haake ranks in the top-10 for the conference in assists, assists per set, service aces, service aces per set, digs and digs per set. Nationally, she is third with five triple-doubles. Haake has compiled 11 double-doubles this season after starting in all 27 matches she appeared in. The junior leads the team in both assists and service aces while ranking second in digs and fifth in kills. She dished out double-figure assists in every match and posted 10 or more kills five times. Haake was named the ASUN Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week during the season.
Dempsey led the Spartans this season both offensively and defensively. A three-time ASUN Freshman of the Week honoree, Dempsey compiled 276 kills and 66 total blocks while playing in all 28 matches with 24 starts. The Moore, S.C. native ranked seventh in the ASUN this season in kills per set, eighth in kills and 14th in blocks. Dempsey collected 13 matches with double-digit kills and one with 10 or more digs. She collected her first career double-double against Jacksonville with a career-high 20 kills and 13 digs. The freshmen then added a 20-kill performance on the road at Gardner-Webb.
Kirkpatrick played in each match this season and was second on the team with 26 starts. She ranked second with 65 total blocks and fourth with 163 kills. Kirkpatrick was also 15th in the conference in blocks. The Omaha, Neb. native registered 10 or more kills three times highlighted by a career-best 18 at Stetson. Kirkpatrick was second on the team in hitting with a .245 percentage after committing just 51 errors on 458 attack attempts. She concluded the regular season by totaling a career-high nine blocks at Jacksonville.
The ASUN All-Academic Team recognizes student-athletes who excel both on the field and in the classroom. All members of the team boast a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average or better and participated in at least half of their team's games.
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