Three Mariners Earn All-Conference Honors
MANSFIELD, Mass. – Three members of the Mitchell College women's volleyball team received all-conference honors from the New England Collegiate Conference on Wednesday, as the league announced its annual awards.
Freshman libero Julia Lent (Miller Place, N.Y.) was tabbed as the NECC Co-Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the second player in the program history to claim a conference major award. Lent was also named to first team All-Conference.
Seniors Olivia DeLoach (Spring Hills, Fl.) and Claire Binfield (Las Vegas, NV.) joined Lent on the First Team All-NECC. Lent and Binfield become just the third and fourth Mitchell volleyball players to earn all-conference first team status, while this marks the third year DeLoach has been awarded all-conference honors.
Lent, who shared Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors with Jaycie Kodama of New England College, leads the Mariners with 261 digs, averaging 3.73 digs per set. She finished the regular season second in the conference in both statistical categories and led the league with 3.60 digs per set in conference play. Lent is the third Mitchell rookie to earn all-conference honors and was a two-time NECC Rookie of the Week (9/19/22, 10/17/22).
DeLoach, who was an all-conference second team selection in 2019 and a first team selection last season, anchored the Mariners attack, tallying 216 kills and 3.04 kills per set, second in the NECC in both categories. The senior also recorded 448 digs, 3.49 per set, good for third best in the conference in both. Earlier this season she recorded her 500th career kill and will end her career second all-time in total kills in Mitchell program history. DeLoach was selected as NECC Player of the Week once this fall (9/19).
Binfield was third in the conference with 7.13 assists per set and finished the regular season with 513 assists, tops in the NECC. She handed out the 1,000th assist of her Mariner career in a win over Regis College this fall, and finishes her career in second place on the Mitchell all-time assist list. Binfield was selected as NECC Player of the Week once this fall (10/3) and also was recognized as a member of the Del Malloy Sportsmanship Team.
The Mariners earned the third-seed in the upcoming New England Collegiate Conference women's volleyball tournament and will play at second-seeded New England College on Thursday, November 3 at 6:00 pm.
First Team All-NECC
Andrea Aceituno, Eastern Nazarene (Fr., OH, Tegucigalpa, Honduras)
Amya Altman, Eastern Nazarene (Sr., DS, Butler, Pa.)
Eliana Baran, Eastern Nazarene (So.., OH, Beaumont, Calif.)
Claire Binfield, Mitchell (Sr., S, Las Vegas, Nev.)
Olivia DeLoach, Mitchell (Sr., OH/DS, Spring Hill, Fla.)
Julia Lent, Mitchell (Fr., L, Miller Place, N.Y.)
Jaycie Kodama, New England Col. (Sr., L, Pauoa Valley, Hawaii)
Tatiana Sampson, New England Col. (Jr., MB, Kailua, Hawaii)
Amber Thi, New England Col. (Jr., OH, Kalihi, Hawaii)
Del Malloy Sportsmanship Team
Madison Harrington, Eastern Nazarene (So., Petersham, Mass.)
Julia Boudreau, Lesley (Fr., Fitchburg, Mass.)
Claire Binfield, Mitchell (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev.)
Samantha Vargas, New England College (Sr., Riverside, Calif.)
