Full Release

The BIG EAST Conference announced on Tuesday afternoon that two Butler volleyball players received conference recognition. Jaymeson Kinley was named as the 2023 BIG EAST Libero of the Year honors while also becoming an unanimous selection on the All-BIG EAST First Team. First-year outside hitter Elise Ward also landed on the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team. 

Kinley averaged 4.83 digs per set against conference opponents, good for second in the league. Overall, she registered a league-best 550 digs for 4.91 per set in addition to contributing 129 assists. 

The red-shirt senior joins fellow three-time honorees Tess Fournier (Seton Hall; 2014-16) and Lena Yee (St. John's; 2006-08). Kinley is the only Bulldog in program history to earn multiple major awards.

The Lexington, Ky. product earned the weekly conference twice this season. She first earned BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week honors on Aug. 28 after she was chosen as the MVP of the 2023 Bulldog Brawl Tournament. Later in the season, she secured another accolade on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after she led the Bulldogs to a 2-0 record over UConn and Providence while collecting 40 digs through the seven sets. 

Kinley left her mark on the record books finishing as the all-time leader in career digs per set (5.18 per set), total season digs (618 in 2022) and season digs per set (5.42 in 2022). This season, she became just the second Bulldogs in program history to surpass 2,000 career digs. Her total reached 2,004 total digs, which was just five digs short of Katie Deprile's all-time career dig record of 2,009 digs. 

Teammate Elise Ward was one of six first-year players that made the BIG EAST All- Freshman Team. The Illinois native started 22 matches and collected 274 kills for 2.77 per set and 233 digs for 2.35 per set this season. 

Ward ended the season ranked second in the conference among freshman hitters with six double-doubles. 

Her season was highlighted in a match on Sept. 9 against Morehead State where she earned her first career double-double posting a career-high 20 kills and 15 digs. Ward became the first Bulldog hitter to record 20 kills in a match as a freshman since Anna Logan had 21 kills against Southern Illinois in 2015. 

2023 BIG EAST Volleyball Regular Season Awards
 BIG EAST Player of the Year: Kendra Wait, Creighton, Jr., S
BIG EAST Libero of the Year: Jaymeson Kinley, Butler, RS Sr., L/DS               
BIG EAST Setter of the Year: Kendra Wait, Creighton, Jr., S
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year: Abby Harrell, Villanova Fr., OH
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year: Creighton (Kirsten Bernthal Booth) & St. John's (Joanne Persico)

 All-BIG EAST
Jaymeson Kinley, Butler, RS Sr., L/DS*             
Kendra Wait, Creighton, Jr., S*                         
Ava Martin, Creighton, So., OH*
Kiana Schmitt, Creighton, Sr., MB
Norah Sis, Creighton, Jr., OH
Jill Pressly, DePaul, Sr., OH*
Rachel Krasowski, DePaul Sr., L  
Peyton Wilhite, Georgetown, Gr., R-S
Aubrey Hamilton, Marquette, Sr., OH*
Yadhira Anchante, Marquette, Jr., S
Hattie Bray, Marquette, Jr., MB
Carsen Murray, Marquette, Sr., MB    
Erin Jones, St. John's, So., S/R-S*
Lucrezia Lodi, St. John's, So., OH                  
Kiera Booth, Villanova, Sr., MB                         
Abby Harrell, Villanova Fr., OH
Carrigan O'Reilly, Xavier, Gr., S/R-S                  
Delaney Hogan, Xavier, Sr., MB*

All-Freshman^
Elise Ward, Butler, Fr., OH
Destiny Ndam-Simpson, Creighton, Fr., OH/RS
Kamryn Lee-Caracci, Georgetown, Fr., MB
Emily Wen, Georgetown, Fr., S
Lyric Berry, Providence, Fr., MB
Rashanny Solano Smith, St. John's, Fr., L/DS*
Abby Harrell, Villanova, Fr., OH

*Unanimous selection
^Denotes a tie in voting