LEXINGTON, Ky. — Missouri State’s Lily Johnson and Melissa Stokes were recognized Tuesday (Dec. 6) by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, with Johnson earning a spot on the all-Midwest Region First Team and Stokes being selected as the Midwest Region Coach of the Year. Johnson is MSU’s first three-time all-region pick and 19th overall selection, while Stokes is MSU’s first regional coach of the year recipient.
The Midwest Region includes schools from the Missouri Valley, Atlantic 10, Big 12, Big Sky, Mid-American, Ohio Valley, and Western Athletic conferences, as well as The Summit League.
Johnson adds to her long list of 2016 honors after a stellar junior campaign in which she was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year for a second consecutive season while earning first-team all-MVC honors for the third straight year. The outside hitter from Wildwood, Mo., is the fourth player in league history to lead the conference in kills three times, and averaged 4.54 kills, 5.12 points, 3.07 digs, 0.35 aces and 0.36 blocks per set with a .228 hitting percentage.
A four-time MVC Player of the Week in 2016, Johnson exceeded 600 kills for the second consecutive season, finishing with 604 for the third-best MSU total and fifth-highest mark in league history. She ended the season ranked second at MSU and eighth in MVC history with 1,719 career kills, and 16th in school history with 1,118 digs as the sixth member of Missouri State’s 1,000-kill, 1,000-dig club. She tallied 23 double-doubles on the year, and reached at least 10 kills for a school-record 45 consecutive matches before the streak ended in the NCAA Tournament.
The 2016 MVC Coach of the Year, Stokes guided the Bears to their fourth regular-season conference championship and the conference tournament title match. After an 0-2 MVC start, the Bears closed with 16 consecutive wins to claim the outright championship, the longest MVC winning streak in school history. MSU extended the streak to 17 victories after an MVC Tournament semifinal victory over Illinois State, the school’s longest overall streak since winning 18 matches in a row in 2003.
The Bears earned their ninth NCAA Tournament bid since 2003, finishing the season 26-9 overall for the team’s highest win total since 2006.
