Westwood, Mass. – The NEWMAC has released its volleyball postseason awards, as announced by the conference on Tuesday morning. The awards are determined by the conference’s twelve coaches following the conclusion of regular season play.

Middle hitter Consecrata Rozario (Cary, N.C.) of MIT was voted NEWMAC Athlete of the Year, while teammate Ottavia Personeni (Bethesda, Md.) earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. MIT’s Julia Tolstova (Redlands, Calif.) was voted Rookie of the Year. The MIT coaching staff was selected as Coaching Staff of the Year by their peers.

Rozario and Personeni headline the first team selections and are joined by teammates Ella Gragg (Morganton, N.C.) and Kayleigh May (Camarillo,Calif.). Springfield’s Riley Donahue (South Windsor, Conn.) joins the first team honorees, along with Smith College’s Abby Hunt (Mandeville, La.). Babson College’s Lauren Gips (Winter Park, Fla.) and Clark University’s Victoria Pastor (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) round out the first team selections.

Springfield placed two on the second team in Maeve Voltz (Bay Shore, N.Y.) and Natalie Billet (Commack, N.Y.). Wellesley also saw two garner second team accolades as Kaija Kunze-Hoeg (Eagan, Minn.) and Kate Giang (Corte Madera, Calif.) were each honored. Babson’s Zoe Ackerman (Aurora, Calif.) and Emerson College’s Amelia Combs (Eugene, Ore.) each earned second team honors. Smith’s Taylor Gwynne (Chapel Hill, N.C.) and Coast Guard’s Kaela France (Calhan, Colo.) close out the honorees.

Athlete of the Year- Consecrata Rozario (Gr., MH), MIT

Rozario helped MIT to a perfect 29-0 regular season run, and an 11-0 regular season conference record. Rozario is currently tops in the NEWMAC and second in the nation with a .426 hitting percentage. She has compiled 241 kills (2.54 per set), 68 of those coming in league play. She averages 0.86 blocks per set overall, which improves to 0.91 in league play, which puts her in the top five in the league. She tied the MIT record for blocks in a four-set match with 11 against Whittier on September 13, which was also the fourth highest in Division III this season.  

Defensive Athlete of the Year – Ottavia Personeni (Jr., L), MIT

Personeni helped MIT to a 29-0 (11-0 in conference) record. The libero is tops on her squad in digs with 4.39 per set, rising to 4.46 per set in conference play, with a .985 reception percentage. She is third in the league with 478 total digs. Personeni was the leader of an MIT defense that allowed conference opponents to hit only .094 against them- tops in the NEWMAC.

Rookie of the Year- Julia Tolstova (Fr., OH), MIT

Julia Tolstova started every match for MIT as an outside hitter, leading the Engineers with 2.78 kills per set, at a 2.49 hitting percentage. The rookie also compiled 315 points, for 3.25 per set, good for second on an MIT squad that went 29-0 in regular season play.

Coaching Staff of the Year – MIT

The Engineers, led by head coach Paul Dill, went 29-0 over the course of the regular season, capturing the NEWMAC regular season championship. The Engineers led the conference play in points (18.33), opponents hitting percentage (.094), hitting percentage (.264), assists (12.34), kills (13.66) and service aces (2.89). MIT, ranked No. 3 nationally, earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, and will serve as a regional host. The MIT coaching staff includes Dill, Brooke Stanley, Jeremy Velazquez and Emily Cheng.

2024 NEWMAC Women’s Volleyball All-Conference
 

Team	Name	Institution
First Team All-Conference	Lauren Gips	Babson College
First Team All-Conference	Victoria Pastor	Clark University
First Team All-Conference	Consecrata Rozario	MIT
First Team All-Conference	Ottavia Personeni	MIT
First Team All-Conference	Ella Gragg	MIT
First Team All-Conference	Kayleigh May	MIT
First Team All-Conference	Abby Hunt	Smith College
First Team All-Conference	Riley Donahue	Springfield College
Second Team All-Conference	Zoe Ackerman	Babson College
Second Team All-Conference	Amelia Combs	Emerson College
Second Team All-Conference	Kaela France	U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Second Team All-Conference	Taylor Gwynne	Smith College
Second Team All-Conference	Natalie Billet	Springfield College
Second Team All-Conference	Maeve Voltz	Springfield College
Second Team All-Conference	Kaija Kunze-Hoeg	Wellesley College
Second Team All-Conference	Kate Giang	Wellesley College

 
About the NEWMAC

The NEWMAC is an association of 12 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with four Associate Members: Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), while sponsoring 20 sports.