Big Ten Conference Announces 2022 Volleyball Postseason Honors

ROSEMONT, Ill. (Nov. 30, 2022) — The Big Ten Conference announced the 2022 Volleyball All-Big Ten Teams and individual honorees Wednesday, as chosen by a vote of the conference’s 14 head coaches. Minnesota redshirt sophomore outside hitter Taylor Landfair was selected as Player of the Year, while Ohio State senior libero Kylie Murr was named Defensive Player of the Year, and Murr’s Buckeye classmate, Mac Podraza, was tabbed as Setter of the Year. In addition, Purdue outside hitter Eva Hudson was chosen as Freshman of the Year and Wisconsin’s Kelly Sheffield earned Coach of the Year honors (the lone award that featured separate voting by the conference coaches and a select media panel, both of whom chose Sheffield).

Landfair is the eighth Golden Gopher to be chosen Big Ten Player of the Year, with a Minnesota student-athlete now receiving that award six times in the past eight seasons (Daly Santana in 2015; Sarah Wilhite in 2016; Samantha Seliger-Swenson in 2018; Stephanie Samedy in 2020 and 2021; Landfair in 2022).
 
A native of Plainfield, Ill., Landfair garnered four Big Ten Player of the Week honors this season and was named the GameChanger/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division I National Player of the Week on Tuesday. She is No. 1 in the Big Ten in points (4.99) and kills (4.43) per set, and also tied for top honors with 5.04 points per set in conference play (she was second in Big Ten matches with 4.46 kills per set).
 
Murr is the first Ohio State student-athlete chosen as Defensive Player of the Year since the award was first presented in 2001. A libero from Yorktown, Ind., Murr was a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week this season (and a five-time career honoree), leading the conference with 4.79 digs per set, as well as 5.26 digs per set in Big Ten matches.

Podraza also makes Buckeye history as the first Ohio State student-athlete to be voted Big Ten Setter of the Year since the award was created in 2012. Originally from Sunbury, Ohio, Podraza captured five Big Ten Setter of the Week citations this year (third-most in conference history), giving her 12 for her career (fourth in the Big Ten record books). This season, she leads the Big Ten with 11.08 assists per set overall and finished with a conference-high 11.26 assists per set in Big Ten matches.

A resident of Fort Wayne, Ind., Hudson is the second Purdue student-athlete chosen as Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the first since Debbie McDonald in 1986. Hudson was a seven-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week this season, the second-most honors in conference history and most since 2017, when Wisconsin’s Dana Rettke earned a Big Ten-record nine freshman awards. Hudson ranks third in the conference in both points (4.79) and kills (4.21) per set. During Big Ten play, she was fourth in both categories with 4.48 points and 3.94 kills per set.
 
Sheffield swept both Big Ten Coach of the Year honors for the second time, following his dual selections by…