Player of the Year — Jessica Phillips, Softball

Phillips followed up an America East Rookie of the Year campaign with an even better second season. She nearly won the conference’s triple crown, finishing the season first in batting average and home runs and third in RBI. For her efforts, she earned conference Co-Player of the Year honors. She led the Bearcats in batting average, hits, runs scored, home runs, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, steals and walks, and even added in a perfect fielding percentage.

Rookie of the Year — Jasbriell Swain, Women’s Basketball

Swain’s scrappy style of play was largely to thank for her outstanding freshman season. Finishing the year fifth in the America East in rebounding (7.9 per game) and 10th in steals (1.7 per game), Swain was awarded conference Rookie of the Year after winning the weekly award a conference-best five times. Having a hometown friend on the team didn’t hurt; guard Andrea Holmes is also from the Memphis area, and the two have been playing together since their high school days.

Coach of the Year — Michelle Burrell, Softball

In just her second year with the program, Burrell changed the culture of the softball team. She took a 7-36 (2-19 America East) squad and led it to a 24-19 (8-10 AE) record last season. This year, she took it a step further as the team’s conference record improved to 10-7, good enough for the squad to qualify for the America East tournament for the first time in program history. While the play of Jessica Phillips, Deannie Plemon and Kristen Emerling, among others, was a major factor in the turnaround, Burrell gets credit for leading the charge.