The NESCAC bestowed all-conference honors on five members of the volleyball team yesterday, with two of the four top awards going to the Jumbos.
Most notable of these honorees is senior co-captain Dena Feiger, who is the first Tufts volleyball player ever to earn the NESCAC's Player of the Year award. For the second straight year, Feiger, the Jumbos' starting setter, led the NESCAC in assists with 11.06 per game. She was an integral part of the potent Jumbo offense, which was the best in the league with 1,489 kills.
Meanwhile, Cora Thompson walked away with NESCAC's Coach of the Year honor, as voted by her peers, for the second straight year. Thompson has led her team to a 28-4 record, a first-place finish in the NESCAC regular season standings, the right to host the NESCAC tournament and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Div. III volleyball regional this week.
Senior co-captain Brogie Helgeson, junior Dawson Joyce-Mendive and junior Caitlin Updike, a triumvirate of power in the middle of the court, also received league honors of their own from the NESCAC. Updike joins Feiger on the first team for the second straight year after leading Tufts in service aces and tying for the team lead in kills.
Joyce-Mendive, who was tied in kills with Updike, earned a second consecutive second team honor and was joined by Helgeson, who has been an all-around contributor in her senior season.
