The Big 12 Conference has announced the yearly award winners for the 2024 Big 12 volleyball season. The awards were selected by the Conference’s head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their institution.
TCU’s Melanie Parra was named the league’s Player of the Year, the Horned Frogs’ first recipient of the award. Arizona State had Mary Shroll earn the Conference’s Libero of the Year while Argentina Ung was awarded Setter of the Year and JJ Van Niel was unanimously chosen as the Big 12 Coach of the Year in the Sun Devils’ debut season. Kansas’ Reese Ptacek became the second Jayhawk in KU’s history to earn the Freshman of the Year honor joining this season’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Caroline Bien.
Parra led the Big 12 in both points per set (5.91) and kills per set (5.06) while ranking third nationally in points per set and fifth nationally in kills per set. The senior from Sinaloa, Mexico guided the Horned Frogs to a 21-7 record (13-5, Big 12) and helped TCU secure its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Parra won six league weekly awards during the season and became the first player in Division I women’s volleyball history to be named the AVCA/GameChanger Division I Player of the Week in consecutive weeks.
Shroll ranked second in digs per set among Big 12 players (4.71) anchoring a defense that held opponents to a league-leading .157 opponent hitting percentage which ranked 13th nationally. The graduate student receiving a master’s in business analytics won three Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors during the season.
Ung finished the regular season third in the league leaderboards for assists per set (10.32) and paced an ASU offense that finished second in the Conference in hitting percentage (.277). The graduate student from Sonora, Mexico finished the season with a .281 hitting percentage.
Ptacek finished third among all Big 12 players with 1.27 blocks per set during the season. The freshman had the highest hitting percentage in a single regular season league match this season, hitting .813 on Oct. 12 against Cincinnati. The middle blocker tied for the second most blocks by a Big 12 player in a match this season with 11 against K-State on Oct. 17.
Bien is Kansas’ fourth Scholar-Athlete of the Year award winner and first since 2021. The native of Overland Park, Kansas is a senior majoring in accounting with a 4.0 GPA. Bien averaged 3.22 digs per set and 2.54 kills per set during the season while helping lead Kansas to 15 league wins and a 13th overall trip to the NCAA Championship.
Van Niel guided Arizona State to a league title in the Sun Devils’ inaugural Big 12 season with a 17-1 mark in Conference play. The title was the first conference title in program history while ASU finished the season undefeated at home for the first time since 1973. Arizona State clinched a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament and finished No. 8 in the final regular season AVCA/TARAFLEX DI Poll in Van Niel’s second season at the helm.
Nineteen student-athletes were selected to the All-Big 12 First Team while 17 were named to the Second Team. Ten freshmen were chosen to the All-Big 12 Rookie Team. A full list of the honorees can be found below.
2024 All-Big 12 Volleyball Award Winners
Player of the Year: Melanie Parra, TCU OH, Sr.
Libero of the Year: Mary Shroll, Arizona State, L, Gr.
Setter of the Year: Argentina Ung, Arizona State, S, Gr.
Freshman of the Year: Reese Ptacek, Kansas
Coach of the Year: JJ Van Niel, Arizona State*
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Caroline Bien, Kansas
All-Big 12 First Team
Jaelyn Hodge, Arizona, OH, Fifth Year
Jordan Wilson, Arizona, OH, Jr.
Argentina Ung, Arizona State, S, Gr.*
Geli Cyr, Arizona State, OH, Sr.
Claire Jeter, Arizona State, MB, Gr.
Mary Shroll, Arizona State, L, Gr.
Elise McGhee, Baylor, OH, Sr.*
Claire Little, BYU, OH, So.*
Brielle Kemavor, BYU, MB, So.
Kate Georgiades, Houston, L, Gr.
Reese Ptacek, Kansas, MB, Fr.
Toyosi Onabanjo, Kansas, MB, Sr.
Camryn Turner, Kansas, S, Sr.*
Ayah Elnady, Kansas, OH, Sr.
Aliyah Carter, K-State, OH, Gr.
Jalyn Gibson, TCU, OH, Jr.
Melanie Parra, TCU, OH, Sr.*
Kamryn Gibadlo, Utah, OH, So.*
Allie Olsen, Utah, MB, Fifth Year
All-Big 12 Second Team
Avery Scoggins, Arizona, S, Fr.
Savannah Kjolhede, Arizona State, MB, Gr.
Jackie Barrett Frazier, Baylor, S, Gr.
Lauren Briseño, Baylor, L/DS, Sr.
Allie Sczech, Baylor, OPP, Jr.
Emily Wilson, UCF, OH, Sr.
Abby Walker, Cincinnati, MB/RS, Sr.
Ana Burilovic, Colorado, OH, So.
Angela Grieve, Houston, OH, Gr.
Amiree Hendricks-Walker, Iowa State, MB, RS-Jr.
Brooke Stonestreet, Iowa State, L, Sr.
Caroline Bien, Kansas, OH/L
London Davis, Kansas, OPP, Sr.
Ella Larkin, K-State, L/DS, Sr.
Brynn Williams, Texas Tech, OH, Jr.
Lauren Jardine, Utah, OH, Sr.
Emrie Satuala, Utah, MB, Jr.
All-Rookie Team
Avery Scoggins, Arizona, S
Carlie Cisneros, Arizona, OH
Alex Bower, BYU, S
Elli Mortensen, BYU, OH
Faith Frame, Cincinnati, L/DS
Rachel Van Gorp, Iowa State, L/OH
Reese Ptacek, Kansas, MB*
Becca Kelley, TCU, OH
Alice Volpe, TCU, DS/L
Isabelle Marco, Utah, S
*Unanimous selection
Players for the First, Second and Rookie Teams are sorted alphabetically by school.