Jackson, MS – The Millsaps Athletic Department is excited to announce that sophomore Ashley Zamjahn has won SAA Defensive Player of the Year and All-Conference First Team Libero.
 
Zamjahn headlines the awards for the Majors, as Lexus Andrews earned All-Conference Second Team Honors and Olivia Kleyer was named All-Conference Honorable Mention.
 
The players of the year and all-conference teams were announced earlier today for the beginning of the SAA volleyball postseason tournament. 
 
"Very much deserved for Ashley, we are thrilled she received this award," Head Volleyball Coach Jaime Fisher said.  "She is one of the hardest workers on our team and it's a credit to her that other coaches see her as the best defender on the floor."
 
Zamjahn led the conference in digs and digs per set in just her second year with the Majors.  Her outstanding numbers included 5.67 digs per set and 544 total digs for the regular season.  Zamjahn earned SAA defensive player of the week honors three times this season as well.
 
Perhaps the greatest achievement for Zamjahn is that she did not start this season in the role of Libero.  For the first half of the season Zamjahn played as an outside hitter where she still led the league in digs and digs per set. 
 
"The fact that she didn't even start the season as a Libero and still earned All-Conference is a great credit to her defensive play," Coach Fisher said.
 
After switching to the role of Libero, Zamjahn's numbers increased even further as she has an entire dig more per set than her nearest competitor.  The Majors will look to Zamjahn's leadership and defensive play as they begin SAA tournament play today.
 
The Majors will look to use the positive momentum this weekend with Zamjahn, Andrews and Kleyer all earning deserved conference awards.  As the fourth overall seed, Millsaps will face fifth seeded Centre today at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas.