STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford senior Madi Bugg has been named the Pac-12 Setter of the Year for the third straight season and Hayley Hodson is the Freshman of the Year as the annual conference awards were announced today by Commissioner Larry Scott.
Joining Bugg and Hodson on the All-Pac-12 Conference Team were senior Brittany Howard and redshirt sophomore Merete Lutz. Hodson also landed on the All-Pac-12 Freshman Team, while libero Halland McKenna earned All-Pac-12 Freshman honorable mention honors.
Bugg, who hails from Apex, North Carolina, leads the Pac-12 with 11.04 assists per set and upped that mark to 11.42 assists per set in Pac-12 play. The political science major, who earns her third career all-conference recognition, is tied for the team-lead with 12 double-doubles this season. She tallied a season-high 60 assists, one shy of her career-high, in a come-from-behind five-set win at then-No. 13 UCLA in the regular-season finale on Nov. 27. This season, Bugg moved into third place on the Cardinal’s career assists list (4,946), needing 54 to become just the third player in program history to reach the 5,000 assist plateau. She also became the 16th player in school history to collect 1,000 career digs, doing so in a sweep over Oregon State on Oct. 9.
Hodson, a native of Newport Beach, California, is the 11th Stanford player to earn Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors, joining the likes of Kerri Walsh (1996), Logan Tom (1999) and Ogonna Nnamani (2001) among others. She is the first Cardinal freshman to lead the team in kills (3.85 kps) since Alix Klineman, who was also the conference freshman of the year in 2007. She also leads the squad in points per set (4.58) and aces per set (0.35), ranking in the top-10 in the conference in both categories. A five-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honoree, Hodson is tied for the team-lead with 12 double-doubles this season.
Howard is being recognized for the fourth time in her career after being named to the All-Pac-12 team as a freshman and picking up honorable mention honors as a sophomore and junior. The Los Altos, California native is averaging career-highs in kills per set (3.06) and points per set (3.53), while also hitting a career-best .305 on the season. She has 10 double-doubles on the year and registered a career-high 22 kills in the regular-season finale at then-No. 13 UCLA (Nov. 27) to earn her first Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. Earlier this season, Howard became just the 10th player in program history to amass 1,000 career kills and digs.
Lutz, a native of Houston, Texas, earns her second straight all-conference accolades. The middle blocker is fourth in the Pac-12 with a .386 hitting percentage, seventh with 1.22 blocks per set and 10th with 3.90 points per set. She received Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 26 after helping the Cardinal defeat then-No. 4 Washington and Washington State. Her .412 career hitting percentage is the third-best mark in program history behind Foluke Akinradewo (.446) and teammate Inky Ajanaku (.415).
McKenna is the fourth Cardinal rookie to earn all-freshman honorable mention honors and the first since Hannah Benjamin in 2009. The Laguna Beach, California native is ninth in the conference with 3.62 digs per set this season. She’s registered double-digit digs in 22 matches this season, reaching the 20-plus digs mark on three occasions. She collected a career-high 27 digs against Arizona on Oct. 30 and was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for her efforts.
USC senior Samantha Bricio was named the Pac-12 Player of the Year, while the Trojans’ Mick Haley was tabbed the Coach of the Year. UCLA junior Taylor Formico earned Libero of the Year honors.
The Cardinal plays host to New Mexico State in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion. The winner will meet the winner of the Loyola Marymount-Colorado State match on Friday, Dec. 4 at 7 p.m.