OKLAHOMA CITY -- John Brown University freshman defensive specialist Paige Addington was named to the All-Sooner Athletic Conference Second Team, the conference office announced Wednesday morning (Nov. 19), capping a breakout first collegiate season in which she emerged as one of the league's most productive defenders.
Addington led the Blue and Gold with 483 digs and 4.35 digs per set, finishing fourth in the SAC in dig rate while appearing in all 111 sets on the year. She posted double-digit digs in 24 matches and reached the 20-dig mark six times, highlighted by a season-best 32 digs in a four-set win over Langston, the highest single-match total by any Golden Eagle this fall.
One of the league's top first-contact performers, Addington handled 661 serve-receive attempts with a .941 reception percentage, committing just 39 errors all season. Her consistency in the back row earned her three SAC Defensive Player of the Week honors (Oct. 6, Oct. 20 and Nov. 3), making her one of the league's most decorated freshmen during the regular season. She also ranked among the SAC's most active defenders in total attempts, finishing as one of only four players in the league to record more than 450 digs.
Her 61 aces and 0.55-per-set average – the best in the SAC this season – made her one of the league's most disruptive servers and a regular source of momentum for the Golden Eagles. She reached eight aces in a single match on Sept. 5 against Wayland Baptist, the top serving performance in conference play this year, and recorded at least three in 10 matches. Addington also finished as one of only two players in the SAC to average at least 0.50 aces per set across 30 matches played.
Addington becomes JBU's lone All-Conference selection this season and the program's first freshman to earn All-SAC honors since middle blocker Taylor Golmen did so in 2021, when she also captured the league's Freshman of the Year award.
Head coach Ken Carver praised Addington's freshman campaign after she earned All-Conference honors:
"Paige's selection to the All-Conference team is well-deserved and speaks to the consistency with which she performed this past season. There were a number of outstanding freshman players who came in and were impact-caliber performers for their respective teams, and Paige was one of the best, not only for our team but in the entire conference. Paige was a force from the service line and led the conference in total service aces and aces per set at the end of the regular season. In both statistical categories, Paige ranked in the top 20 in all of the NAIA. She was a player we could consistently count on to not only score points from the service line but to regularly disrupt an opposing team's offense through the pace of her serve as well as its location. In addition to her prowess at the service line, Paige was also one of the conference's best back-row players. At the close of the regular season, she had the most digs of any player in the conference and ranked in the top four in digs-per-set average. Paige's hustle and defensive range on the court were impressive for an incoming freshman in how quickly she adapted to the speed of the college game. She showed no fear in filling the holes in our block and digging attacks coming with heat, and at the same time ran down deep-corner attacks that opposing teams tried to sneak by. Paige passed the most serve-receive attempts on our team this season and had the highest passing efficiency and effectiveness, which allowed our setters to run in-system offense from her passes. Due to her consistent performance, which earned her three Defensive Player of the Week awards during the season, our conference coaches honored Paige as the second-highest freshman selection on this year's All-Conference team. I couldn't be more pleased and excited for Paige in earning this award for her accomplishments. As good as her first season with our volleyball team was, Paige still has a higher ceiling and another gear at which she can play. She's a dedicated and hard-working young woman, and I cannot wait to see how she will continue to grow and develop as a player this coming offseason."
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