ST. LOUIS – After hoisting the AMC Volleyball Championship banner on Saturday for just the third time in program history, Missouri Baptist raked in five specialty awards for 2020-21 and maxed out its all-conference honors with five first-team selections, one second teamer and one honorable mention.

Missouri Baptist senior Giovanna Tapigliani earned the league's top honor as AMC Player of the Year, while Chris Nichols was named Baden-AMC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career. To round out the Spartans' specialty awards, the AMC coaches selected Sara Klunder as Freshman of the Year, Ariana Macies as Defensive Player of the Year and Manuela Vargas as Co-Setter of the Year.

The sixth-ranked Spartans have been a mainstay in the Top 10 this season with five wins over ranked opponents. Heading into postseason play, the Spartans are one of the top attacking teams in the country with the NAIA's highest hitting percentage (.324) and 13.3 kills per set. The team also ranks second in the NAIA in service aces/set (2.49).

Chris Nichols – AMC Baden Coach of the Year

• Second career AMC Coach of the Year honor
• With a sweep of Lyon on 3/26, Nichols recorded his 250^th win as MBU head coach
• Currently ranks atop the active winningest NAIA coaches list in win percentage (.832)

• Joins Ana Mercado (2005, 2006) and Caterina Cigarini (2019) as the only Spartans to be crowned AMC Player of the Year (formerly Most Valuable Player)
• One of three Spartans to earn NAIA National Player of the Week this season ; named AMC & NAIA Attacker of the Week following performance vs. Lincoln (Ill.) – 20 kills, .484, 7 digs, 3 blocks
• Has improved in nearly every area from 2019 as an All-AMC First Team selection ; made the jump from 2.54 to 3.27 in kills/set, .251 to 344 in hitting %, 1.22 to 1.80 in digs/set and 0.61 to 0.65 in blocks/set
• Leads the team in points/set (3.78)

Sara Klunder – AMC Freshman of the Year // All-AMC First Team

• Becomes the sixth Spartan to be named Freshman of the Year ; the last to do so was fellow middle blocker Caterina Cigarini in 2016
• Currently leads the AMC and ranks fourth in the NAIA in hitting percentage at .383
• Earned first career AMC Attacker of the Week award following wins over William Woods, Stephens and Harris-Stowe State last week
• Ranks third on the team in kills/set and points/set

• Becomes the first Spartan since Ally Krus in 2015 to win AMC Setter of the Year ; won the award in 2018 with Columbia
• The multi-talented setter is averaging 10.49 assists/set, leads the team in service aces/set (0.74), and also contributes another point per set via kills and blocks
• One of three Spartans to earn NAIA National Player of the Week this season ; won AMC & NAIA Setter of the Week in mid-February after guiding the Spartans to sweeps of UHSP, then-No. 25 Columbia, and then-No. 12 Bellevue

• Becomes the second Spartan to win AMC Defensive Player of the Year since the award changed over from Libero of the Year in 2018
• A three-time recipient of AMC Defender of the Week in 2020-21
• Leads a strong passing team with 3.84 digs/set and a reception percentage of .965 with ~350 balls served her way
• Leads the AMC and ranks fifth in the NAIA in service aces/set (0.66)

• Averaging 2.09 kills/set and 1.16 blocks/set
• Earned first career AMC Attacker of the Week award on 10/26 following a career-high 11 kills and three blocks vs. Central Baptist
• Leads the AMC in blocking (1.18) and ranks in the Top-15 individually in the category

• Represents the Spartans' lone returning NAIA All-American
• Joins Tapigliani as a repeat All-AMC First Team selection
• Collected three AMC Attacker of the Week throughout the year
• Leads the team in kills/set (3.35), total kills (184) and attack attempts

Emma Lattimore – All-AMC Honorable Mention

• Started 12 matches for the Spartans
• Averaging 2.37 kills/set with an attack percentage of .254
• As one of the team's top passers, Lattimore ranked second among Spartans in digs/set (2.63) and tied for second in reception percentage (.965)

 
In addition to the All-Conference awards, the league office also announced the AMC Academic All-Conference and Champions of Character recipients. The Spartans placed 11 on the AMC Academic All-Conference Team, which requires a student-athlete to be on the varsity roster and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0. Representing MBU on the list was Macies, Stojovic, Tapigliani, Vargas, as well as Abby Braswell, Katie Duncan, Sam Kurm, Nathiellen Machado, Lindsey Major, Liz van Houwelingen, and Carlee Wise.

Shannon McLain was named to the AMC Women's Volleyball Champions of Character Team as the Spartan who best exemplifies the NAIA's Champions of Character five core values of Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, Servant Leadership and Sportsmanship.