NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Dayton junior Lexie Almodovar was voted the Atlantic 10 Volleyball Player of the Year while her coach Tim Horsmon was named Coach of the Year. Additionally, Loyola Chicago’s Bree Borum, Davidson senior Bella Brady and Duquesne freshman Chloe Wilmot all claimed major awards.

Borum was named Setter of the Year for the second straight year, and Brady was selected as Libero of the Year, for the third year in a row.  Wilmot garnered Rookie of the Year. The Atlantic 10 announced the five major awards along with the All-Conference, All-Rookie and All-Academic teams Thursday prior to the start of the 2023 A-10 Volleyball Championship, which begins Friday at Belk Arena in Davidson, N.C.

The major awards, All-Conference Teams and All-Rookie Team were voted on by the A-10 head volleyball coaches. The All-Academic team was selected by the volleyball media relations directors.

Almodovar ranks 15th nationally with 4.45 kills per set and 15th with 5.12 points per set. An outside hitter from Noblesville, Ind., she has nine double-doubles on the season including a career-high 32 kills along with 15 digs against Marquette. A three-time 2023 A-10 Player of the Week, her 1,393 career kills ranks eighth all-time in program history. A three-time member of the A-10 All-Conference First Team and A-10 All-Championship Team, she was named 2022 AVCA Midwest All-Region. She was also named to the All-Conference First Team and the All-Academic Team.

Borum helped the Ramblers reach 16-straight wins, a program record. She achieved 2,000 career assists against Rhode Island this year and averaged 9.24 assist per set and 3.17 digs per set this season to lead the team, ranking third and 10th in the A-10, respectively. A Sterling, Ill., native, she reached 18 double-doubles (assists-digs) and three triple-doubles (assists-kills-digs) this year. Named A-10 Player of the Week once this season, she hit .322 to rank second on the team. She was also named to the All-Conference First Team and the All-Academic Team.
 
Brady becomes just the second player to three-peat as Libero of the Year since the honor was introduced in 2009. Hailing from Winter Park, Fla., Brady is 11th nationally and leads the Atlantic 10 with 5.36 digs per set. She also ranks 17^th nationally in total digs with 557, which ranks second in the A-10. She was also named to the All-Conference First Team.
 
Wilmot, a setter from Alexandria, Va., ranked second in the league in assists per set (10.09) and second in total assists (969). A five-time A-10 Rookie of the Week, Wilmot was also named to the All-Rookie Team.

Horsmon has 372 wins over 15 seasons at Dayton and is the program's winningest coach. That includes a perfect 18-0 regular season in 2023 and a 29-2 mark overall, ranking 19^th in the latest AVCA poll. The 18-0 conference record is the program's second undefeated conference season in the last three years. A seven-time A-10 Coach of the Year, he has led the program to 10 A-10 regular season titles and 11 A-10 Championship titles.

The 2023 Atlantic 10 Volleyball Championship begins with two Friday matches between No. 4 Davidson and No. 5 Saint Louis in the first quarterfinal at 1:00 pm ET  and No. 3 VCU and No. 6 Fordham in the second quarterfinal at 3:30 pm ET. Saturday’s semifinals are also at 1 and 3:30 pm ET and will feature No. 1 Dayton vs. the Davidson/SLU winner and No. 2 Loyola Chicago against the VCU/Fordham winner. The championship final will be played Sunday at noon ET. All five matches of the A-10 championship will be streamed live on ESPN+.