SAN FRANCISCO -- Washington State Head Coach Jen Greeny was named the Pac-12 Conference volleyball Coach of the Year and a trio of players earned league honors, Commissioner Larry Scott announced Monday.
 
Greeny, in her sixth-year as the head coach at WSU, led her 2016 team to a 21-11 overall record and 11-9 Pac-12 record, tied for fifth place, after being slotted to finish ninth in the preseason coaches poll. The Cougars are playing in the first round of the NCAA Championship tournament Thurs., Dec. 1, in Madison, Wis., taking on Marquette. The 21-win season is tied for sixth-best in WSU all-time. The 11 conference wins is the most since the 2002 season when Greeny was an assistant coach and the Cougars finished tied for third in the Pac-12 and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Championship tournament. The 2016 Cougars are the third-best blocking team in the nation and lead the conference in opponent hitting. Greeny is the third conference coach of the year from WSU: Cindy Fredrick earned the honor in 1995 and Andrew Palileo was selected in 2009.
 
For the second consecutive year, Kyra Holt was selected to the All-Pac-12 Volleyball First Team while Taylor Mims and Casey Schoenlein were selected for the honorable mention team.
 
Holt, a 6-1 senior outside hitter from Hercules, Calif., became the fifth Cougar in school history to reach 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career. In career numbers she holds school records in points with 2,013.0, attack attempts with 4,992, is second in kills with 1,743, sixth in aces with 120, and seventh in digs with 1,158. Her 30 block solos, 240 block assists and 270 total blocks are all in the top 20 for WSU all-time. This season Holt was named the MVP of the Purdue Mortar Board Premier, Best Attacker at Baylor Classic, and to the Cougar Challenge All-Tournament team. Holt was a 2016 Preseason All-Pac-12 selection and played on Pac-12 All-Star team that toured China last summer. She is a team tri-captain for the second year. This is the 15th time a Cougar has been named to the All-Pac-12 First Team for volleyball.
 
Mims, a 6-3 middle blocker from Billings, Mont., leads the Pac-12 and is seventh-best in the nation in blocks with an average of 1.52 blocks per set. Her 184 total blocks this season is third-best in the nation and fourth-best in WSU's single season records. Mims' 2016 155 block assists is third-best in WSU single season stats. She was named to the Purdue Mortar Board Premier All-Tournament team and was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 26-Oct. 2) and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week (Nov. 7-13).
 
Schoenlein, a 6-5 outside hitter from Bellevue, Wash., is a team tri-captain and last summer was one of 12 players chosen for the U.S. Collegiate National Team - Europe Tour that won the 12th Annual Global Challenge Tournament in Pula, Croatia with WSU Head Coach Jen Greeny a member of coaching staff. Schoenlein has consistently had big performances in big matches this season and her 1.78 kills per set and 2.31 points per set are both fourth-best on team, while her 0.94 blocks per set is third-best on the squad.
 
Pac-12 Player of the Year went to Washington's Courtney Schwan, with Stanford's Kathryn Plummer named Freshman of the Year. For the second consecutive year, UCLA's Taylor Formico as named Libero of the Year. Setter of the Year honors went to Arizona's Penina Snuka. The Pac-12 volleyball head coaches nominate players from their own teams and then vote on the all-conference teams, without being able to vote for their own players. There were 18 players selected to the All-Pac-12 First Team and another 18 players named to the honorable mention team. Seven players were named to the Pac-12 All-Freshman First team.