Gophers' Stephanie Samedy earns Big Ten Volleyball Player of the Year award

The senior from Florida is the seventh Gophers player to win the award, and two other teammates joined her on the Big Ten's first team.

April 9, 2021 at 5:08AM
Stephanie Samedy delivered a set-winning spike against Penn State on Feb. 14 at Maturi Pavilion. (Jeff Wheeler, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Gophers volleyball senior Stephanie Samedy was named Big Ten Player of the Year on Thursday after finishing the regular season with a conference best 4.11 kills per set.

Samedy and teammates Regan Pittman and Taylor Landfair were named first team All-Big Ten. Adanna Rollins was named to the second team, and Landfair and Melani Shaffmaster were named to the Big Ten all-freshmen team.

Samedy, from Clermont, Fla., had seven double doubles this season, including a 28-kill, 26-dig masterpiece against Purdue. She is the seventh Gophers player to receive Big Ten Player of the Year honors, and the first since Samantha Seliger-Swenson in 2018.

The Gophers (15-2) received the No. 3 overall seed in the 48-team NCAA tournament, and their next match will be April 15 in Omaha against the winner of Georgia Tech and Lipscomb.

about the writer

about the writer

Joe Christensen

Sports team leader

Joe Christensen, a Minnesota Star Tribune sports team leader, graduated from the University of Minnesota and spent 15 years covering Major League Baseball, including stops at the Riverside Press-Enterprise and Baltimore Sun. He joined the Minnesota Star Tribune in 2005 and spent four years covering Gophers football.

See More