Rebel middle blockers honored for rookie seasons
OXFORD, Miss. – Ole Miss freshmen middle blockers Nakeyta Clair and Ty Laporte proved to be two of the top freshmen middle blockers in the Southeastern Conference. On Monday, their hard work and impressive play were recognized.
Clair and Laporte were each named to the SEC All-Freshmen team by the 13 league head coaches, the SEC office announced Monday.
“This honor is a testament to how hard Nakeyta and Ty have worked this year,” Ole Miss head coach Joe Getzin said. “They had some great mentoring from the upperclassmen to get ready for the SEC schedule, and they came on really strong over the last half of the season. We were able to get them the ball and they executed. This also speaks volumes to the future of Ole Miss volleyball to have players of their stature, and we will continue to move forward and expect bigger and better things from them.”
Over the final 11 matches of the season, Clair had the second most kills on the team with 111, just one kill behind Kara Morgan for the team lead, and had the most blocks. Clair was a two-time SEC Freshman of the Week recipient this season, and in SEC matches she finished eighth in the league in hitting percentage, and third in blocks.
Similar to Clair, over the final 13 matches, Laporte finished second on the team in kills with 121, and third on the team in blocks. In all matches, Laporte ranks 10th in the SEC, and first among freshmen, with a .312 hitting percentage.
Joining Clair and Laporte on the All-Freshmen team were Liz Fortado (Arkansas), Živa Recek (Florida), Jasmine Eatmon (Georgia), Sara Schwarzwalder (Kentucky) and Roxanne McVey (Mississippi State).
Recek was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, while Florida’s Chloe Mann was named Player of the Year and Gators head coach Mary Wise was named Coach of the Year. Kentucky’s Stephanie Klefot was tabbed Libero of the Year and Arkansas’ Amanda Anderson was the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.