Louisville, KY - For the second time in her 16-year tenure, Head Coach Danielle MacKnight has been named the East Region Coach of the Year, announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) on Tuesday. 

In her 16th year at the helm, MacKnight led her team to a 23-11 record and a return to the Northeast-10 Conference final and its deepest NCAA Championship run. For the first time in school history, the Panthers reached the East Regional final, which they lost to Southern New Hampshire in a heartbreaker that ended 21-19 in the fifth set.

Also honored by the AVCA was Macarty McQueen, who picked up East Region Freshman of the Year honors after earning the Northeast-10 Conference Rookie of the Year award. She was recognized as an All-Region Honorable mention, joining one other freshman on the list. 

Lilyen McCarthy, Brenna Valsted and Jamie Yonker were all selected to the East Region team, doubling up on their NE10 honors this season as well as being named to the All-Tournament team for the East Region tournament.

McCarthy was a force in the NCAA tournament, recording 42 kills through three contests (15 sets) adding 15 digs to boot. For the season she led the team in kills (353) while ranking second on the team in blocks (94.0). 

Valsted put up a standout year in her final season of competition, not only breaking the 1,000 assist threshold, but nearly recording 1,000 in this season alone. For her career she stands at 1,603 assists while adding 474 along the way. 

Yonker, who earned NE10 Libero of the Year honors for the second time in her career with the Panthers, also reached a milestone of 1,000 digs, culminating in 1,173 in two seasons. 

The Panthers avengd their NE10 tournament final loss to American International in the second round of the NCAA tournament, by defeating the hosting Yellow Jackets in a five-set thriller which saw the final at 15-13. They advanced to the Sweet Sixteen as a result, for the first time in program history.