TRAFFORD, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) released its 2023 All-PAC women's volleyball teams and conference award winners Monday evening. The league's 11 head coaches voted to determine this year's All-PAC teams and annual award winners.

For the first time ever, the All-PAC teams and award winners were announced on a selection show broadcast by the PAC Sports Network. The link to the archived broadcast can be found here.

This year's major award winners in the conference included Bethany College senior middle blocker Emma Marthins (Elkridge, Md. | Howard), who was voted the PAC Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Allegheny sophomore libero Jacy Diaz (Barranquitas, Puerto Rico | Gallatin-Tenn.) earned PAC Defensive Player of the Year, while Washington & Jefferson first-year middle blocker Sophie Little (Marysville, Ohio | Fairbanks) received the PAC Newcomer of the Year award. 

PAC Coach of the Year honors went to Chatham University head coach Joe Bortak. 

Marthins is the first repeat winner of the PAC Player of the Year award since Thomas More University (then College) libero Kelsey Castiglioni was recognized following the 2013 and 2014 season. In addition to repeating as Player of the Year, Marthins also helped Bethany repeat as PAC champions when the second-seeded Bison scored a 3-1 victory at top-seeded Chatham Saturday night. It was Bethany's fourth conference title in program history (2016, 2018, 2022). 

Marthins has posted a .291 hitting percentage to this point with 251 kills (2.46/set). Also a defensive force at the net, Marthins led the conference with 54 solo blocks and 108 total blocks, while ranking second with 1.06 blocks per set. She was dominant in PAC play, hitting .355 with 103 kills in 10 conference matches while also averaging 1.46 blocks  and 4.07 points per set against league opposition. 

Now a four-time All-PAC selection and three-time First Team honoree, Marthins earned a spot on the league's All-Tournament team for the third straight season. In the two Tournament wins last week, she hit .285 with 16 kills and added eight blocks.

After earning Second Team All-PAC in her freshman season, Diaz is a First Team selection and the Defensive Player of the Year in 2023. She brought up 618 digs for the season, ranking fourth in the conference with 5.67 per set, while also leading the PAC and ranking ninth in the country in total aces with 74. Diaz had 14 matches with 20+ digs this season, highlighted by a season-high 38 in the PAC Tournament Quarterfinal win over Grove City. That effort helped Diaz earn All-Tournament team recognition.

In earning PAC Newcomer of the Year, Little is the fifth W&J volleyball player to earn that recognition and first since 2002 when Becky Fletcher earned the honor. Little enjoyed a stellar initial season for the Presidents, which saw her hit .365 with 106 kills in 10 PAC regular season matches. She finished second in the PAC in hitting percentage for the season at .345 and totaled eight matches with double-digit kills. One of those came in the PAC Quarterfinal victory against Westminster when Little had 10 kills and five blocks in W&J's 3-1 win.

This is the first Coach of Year award for Bortak, who just completed his sixth year leading the Chatham program. This past fall, the Cougars finished 18-6 overall, the second-most wins in the program's single-season history. Chatham also went 9-1 in the conference to become the first team in Chatham athletics history to earn the top seed for a PAC Tournament.

As this year's championship tournament winner, Bethany earned the league's automatic qualifying bid to the Division III Championship. The Bison will go on the road to face No. 3 Hope College in the NCAA Tournament first round Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in Holland, Mich. It will be Bethany's fourth all-time appearance in the Division III Championship. 

PAC Award Winners
PAC Player of the Year: Bethany senior middle blocker Emma Marthins (Elkridge, Md. | Howard)
PAC Defensive Player of the Year: Allegheny sophomore libero Jacy Diaz (Barranquitas, Puerto Rico | Gallatin (Tenn.))
PAC Newcomer of the Year: W&J first-year middle blocker Sophie Little (Marysville, Ohio | Fairbanks)
PAC Coach of the Year: Chatham head coach Joe Bortak
 

All-PAC First Team
Name	School	Position	Year	Hometown | High School
Jacy Diaz	Allegheny	LIB	So.	Barranquitas, Puerto Rico | Gallatin (Tenn.)
Emma Marthins	Bethany	MB	Sr.	Elkridge, Md. | Howard
Alaina Torres	Bethany	S	Gr.	Lanexa, Va. | New Kent
Alyssa Leskovac	Chatham	OH	So.	Youngstown, Ohio | Austintown Fitch
Kami Mummau	Geneva	OH	Jr.	Mount Joy, Pa. | Mount Calvary Christian
Samantha Peachey	Geneva	S	Sr.	Colorado Spring, Colo. | Liberty
Anna DeGraaf	Grove City	MH	Sr.	Cranberry Township, Pa. | Seneca Valley
Faith Fetsko	W&J	OH	So.	South Park, Pa. | South Park
Sophie Little	W&J	MB	Fr.	Marysville, Ohio | Fairbanks
Malia Duffy	Westminster	LIB	Sr.	Allison Park, Pa. | North Allegheny

All-PAC Second Team
Name	School	Position	Year	Hometown | High School
Dagney Javes	Allegheny	MB	Jr.	Frederick, Colo. | Dawson School
Asia Crim	Bethany	LIB	Jr.	Shoals, Ind. | Loogootee
Riley Felton	Bethany	MB	Gr.	Salineville, Ohio | Southern Local
Amelia Bogovich	Chatham	OH/DS	Sr.	Forest Hills, Pa. | Serra Catholic
Meghan Dominek	Chatham	LIB/DS	Sr.	Pittsburgh, Pa. | North Hills
Grace Wallace	Franciscan	S	Sr.	Reistertown, Md. | Mount De Sales Academy
Megan Veon	Geneva	MH	Jr.	New Castle, Pa. | Mohawk Area
Kennedy Kerr	Grove City	S	Jr.	East Grand Rapids, Mich. | East Grand Rapids
Luciana Polk	Saint Vincent	OH	So.	Pittsburgh, Pa. | Mount Lebanon
Saylee Grinnen	Westminster	MH	Sr.	Wampum, Pa. | Ellwood City

All-PAC Honorable Mention
Name	School	Position	Year	Hometown | High School
Emma Chambers	Allegheny	OH	Sr.	Stoutsville, Ohio | Amanda Clearcreek
Destiny Goodnight	Bethany	OH/MB	Sr.	Youngstown, Ohio | Ursuline
Ava Plunkard	Chatham	S	Fr.	Butler, Pa. | Butler
Jena Williams	Chatham	OH/RS	Sr.	Seattle, Wash. | Roosevelt
Rani Hebert	Franciscan	MH	Gr.	Lafayette, La. | Teurlings Catholic
Zoe Pifer	Geneva	DS/LIB	Jr.	Keyser, W. Va. | Calvary Christian
Julia Fisher	Grove City	OH	Fr.	Lancaster, Pa. | Lancaster Mennonite
Alexis Standford	Grove City	RS/OH	Fr.	Walkersville, Md. | New Life Christian
Lauren Fox	Saint Vincent	MH	So.	Hinckley, Ohio | Highland
Arin Delattre	Thiel	MB	Fr.	Greensburg, Pa. | Hempfield
Daisy Janness	Thiel	RS	So.	Pendleton, Ore. | Pendleton
Carlie Reynolds	Thiel	LIB	So.	Grove City, Pa. | Grove City Area
Adrianna Sacramento	W&J	S/DS	Jr.	Pittsburgh, Pa. | Woodland Hills
Jordan Stein	Waynesburg	LIB	Jr.	Manor, Pa. | Norwin
Lauren Lampus	Westminster	OH	Sr.	Sarver, Pa. | Freeport
Shelby Rambo	Westminster	MH	So.	East Palestine, Ohio | Crestview