Volleyball

MIAC announces 2025 Volleyball Awards

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its annual volleyball awards on Wednesday.
 
Conference coaches selected Bethel junior middle blocker Peyton Howie as the MIAC Offensive Player of the Year, while St. Olaf senior libero Morgan Ryan received the MIAC Defensive Player of the Year honor, and Bethel first-year setter Sophia Rubio was named MIAC Rookie of the Year. St. Olaf head coach Alicia Wood was celebrated by her peers as the MIAC Coach of the Year.
 
Howie (Jr. / Blaine, Minn. / Irondale) was voted the MIAC Volleyball Offensive Player of the Year after leading the conference with an average of 3.90 kills and 4.78 points per set as a middle blocker in 2025. Howie hit .355 in her eleven conference matches, good for the second-highest hitting percentage in the MIAC. She is the first Bethel volleyball player since Liz Glesne in 2007 to receive the MIAC Offensive Player of the Year award, previously branded as the "MIAC Player of the Year" until 2022. Howie, who was voted MIAC Volleyball Rookie of the Year in 2023, is now the tenth volleyball player in conference history to receive both a Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year honor in her career.
 
Ryan (Sr. / Chanhassen, Minn. / Minnetonka) was selected MIAC Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season after totaling 241 digs and an average of 5.74 digs per set in 2025. Just the second Ole in program history to eclipse 2,000 career digs, Ryan topped the conference in her specialty by a 40-dig margin and - though only conference statistics are considered for MIAC awards - led all of NCAA women's volleyball with 709 digs for the regular season. The only St. Olaf defensive specialist ever to receive the award, Ryan is now the eighth libero in conference history to be named MIAC Defensive Player of the Year more than once.
 
Rubio (Fy. / Woodbury, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) received MIAC Rookie of the Year honors after leading all MIAC setters with an average of 10.36 assists per set in 2025. Rubio surpassed 400 assists during the MIAC regular season, totaling more than 30 assists in eight conference matches and more than 40 assists in four. She is the fifth Bethel volleyball player to receive MIAC Rookie of the Year honors, and the second in the last three seasons, joining teammate Peyton Howie, who won the award in 2023.
 
Wood (2nd season) was recognized by her peers as MIAC Coach of the Year for the first time in her career after guiding the Oles to the program's first regular-season championship in 15 years this fall. Wood's squad finished the regular season with an undefeated 11-0 record in MIAC play. It was the fourth perfect MIAC record in St. Olaf program history, and the Oles' first 11-0 run through the conference since 1996. Wood now joins Cindy Book, a four-time MIAC Coach of the Year honoree, as St. Olaf head volleyball coaches to receive the conference's top coaching honor.
 
In addition to the individual awards, 22 players were named All-Conference, and four received honorable mention distinctions. All awards were nominated by and voted on by the 12 MIAC head volleyball coaches; any nominated player not selected as All-Conference but still receiving votes from at least three coaches was named honorable mention.
 
Seven of the 22 All-Conference selections in 2025 had also earned the honor at least once before. Gustavus senior libero Maren Sundberg became the 20th MIAC volleyball player in recorded conference history to earn four straight All-Conference honors, while Bethel junior middle blocker Peyton Howie became the 64th player to receive three All-MIAC nods.
 
The MIAC Volleyball All-Playoff Team will be announced on Monday, November 17, after the MIAC Volleyball Playoffs conclude.
 
A complete list of MIAC Volleyball honorees can be found below.
 
| 2025 MIAC Volleyball Awards |