EAST PEORIA – The Great Lakes Valley Conference announced Wednesday at an awards banquet at The Cornerstone Building that Truman State’s outside hitter Allie Brak, libero Abby Moser, McKendree University outside hitter Arela Williams, and Truman State University head coach Ben Briney have been honored with the GLVC’s major postseason honors in volleyball.  Brak was named the GLVC Player of the Year, Moser received Libero of the Year, and Williams was the unanimous choice by the league coaches as Freshman of the Year, while Briney was recognized by her peers as Coach of the Year.  In addition, eight student-athletes garnered first-team and second-team All-Conference distinction, respectively, while six received honorable mention All-Conference recognition were also announced.
 
Brak, a senior from The Colony, Texas Joliet, Ill., guided the Bulldogs to a 17-1 league record, a 25-3 overall mark, and a national top-25 ranking by averaging 3.63 kills per set.  On the year, she finished with a league-best 243 kills, 191 digs, 27 blocks, 20 aces, and 19 assists over 67 sets played.  The Sept. 22nd GLVC Baden Defensive Player of the Week honoree currently ranks 10th all-time in kills (1225) for the Bulldogs.  For the term, she ranks in the top five team statistical categories, including No. 2 kills (243) and digs (191), and No. 3 serve aces (20) per set.  This marks the first time a Truman State player has claimed the distinction since starting play in the GLVC (2013). 
 
Moser a libero from Wildwood, Mo., is the first-ever Bulldog to earn GLVC Libero of the Year.  Moser was a force for Truman State, leading the team to its second-straight GLVC Championship Tournament appearance.  The four-time GLVC Baden Offensive Player of the Week, recorded 501 digs and 40 assists during the regular season.  Her 5.01 digs per set ranks fifth in the league, and for the season, Moser collected 40 assists, 17 service aces, and two kills. 
 
Williams, an outside hitter from San Diego, CA., is the league’s top newcomer and was also named to the GLVC All-Conference second team after serving as the lead freshman with 213 kills with 3.18 kills per set.  She notched 379 kills, 315 digs, 32 aces, and 11 assists in 111 sets for the Bearcats.  She posted a career-high 30 kills versus Missouri-St. Louis on Sept. 30 and recorded a personal-best three service aces three times against West Alabama (Sept. 5), Rockhurst (Nov. 1), and Missouri-St. Louis (Nov. 5).  This year, she was credited with a service ace 32 times.  Williams also accumulated 11 double-doubles, with eight against league opponents.  She is the first McKendree player to earn GLVC Freshman of the Year since the Bearcats joined the league (2010).
 
In his sixth season the lead at Truman State, Briney earns his first career GLVC Coach of the Year accolade.  He has directed the Bulldogs to a 25-3 record this season, including a 17-1 mark in GLVC action and 10-0 in West Division play.  They are the number one-seeded team from the West Division for the 2014 GLVC Volleyball Championship Tournament, which begins Thursday in East Peoria, Ill.  In addition to the Bulldog’s five GLVC Defensive Player of the Week honors and Brak’s AVCA Weekly selection (Sept. 23), Briney’s standouts earned three GLVC Offensive weekly nods from the league this season, including a pair of honors for Kayla Bastian and Brak.  During his first five seasons, Briney has led the Bulldogs to four NCAA postseason tournament appearances and 25 total selections to all-conference teams. In addition, he helped coach middle blocker Megan Sharpe to becoming the program’s first four-time AVCA all-American, including being named the National Freshman of the Year in 2009. Two players from his 2013 squad - Brak and Ali Patterson - earned AVCA all-America honorable mention accolades.  The Missouri native sports an overall career record of 119-54 (.688) and a 64-30 (.681) conference mark, and has made four NCAA Tournament Appearances in his five seasons guiding the Bulldogs.
 
Brak was joined by seven other standouts on the eight-member All-Conference first team including teammate Meghan Zimmerman.  The other first-team selections comprised of UIndy’s Meghan Binkerd and Hailey Brown, Lewis’ Alexis Davito, Missouri S&T’s Krista Haslag, Rockhurst’s Preecy Seever and Morgan Rietzke.
 
The second-team honorees were also selected by the coaches.  Joining Moser on the All-Conference second-team were teammates Ali Patterson and Kayla Bastian, Lewis’ Leigh Barea, McKendree’s Williams and Sophie Fairman, Rockhurst’s Whitney Kostal, and Southern Indiana’s Fawn Ryan.
 
The six-team member recognized on the All Conference honorable mention team were  Bellarmine’s Jaclyn Ohlmann, Lewis’ Amy Choi and Aly Schneider, Maryville’s Ali Lampen, Missouri S&T’s Gracey moon, and Southern Indiana’s Abbey Winter.
 
A complete list of the 2014 GLVC All-Conference honorees follows: