Huynh Highlights GNAC Selections as Rookie of the Year, Marquez Named to Second Team

WINTHROP, Mass. – Saints first-year Kason Huynh (Mission Viejo, Calif.) has been voted the 2023 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year, as voted on by the head coaches of the conference and announced by the GNAC Office on Nov. 14. Huynh becomes just the third GNAC Rookie of the Year in program history, joining Amy Miklus and Cassie Chruscielski, who won in 2003 and 2013, respectively.

Huynh added a nomination to the GNAC All-Rookie Team along with her Rookie of the Year honors. Sophomore Isabella Marquez (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) was voted to the All-Conference Second Team while senior Brigid Moriarty (Westfield, Mass.) was named to the All-Sportsmanship squad.

Marquez's vote to an All-Conference team makes her the first Saints player since 2018 to be voted to any of the GNACs All-Conference Teams at season's end.

Huynh proved to be a multi-positional player for the Saints as a rookie, rotating between a setter and outside hitter this season. Finishing the season with 3.86 assists, 2.25 digs, and 1.57 kills per set, showed Huynh's versatility in the Emmanuel rotation.

In addition to those averages, all of which ranked in the top three among the Saints, Huynh had three matches with a triple-double of kills, digs, and assists. The first of three came on Sept. 27 against New England College (11-14-23), followed by triple-doubles against Mitchell (10-10-12) and Colby-Sawyer (10-13-30), on Nov. 4 and Nov. 6, respectively.

Huynh capped off her impressive season being one of two Saints to be responsible for at least 200 total points while her 33 total blocks and 34 service aces were both third-most on the team.

Marquez enjoyed a breakout season in her second year with the Saints. The sophomore outside hitter finished with 302 kills, good for 3.21 kills per set, both leading the team. Her 302 total kills ranked sixth in the conference while the kills per set was fifth-best in the GNAC.

Marquez is the first Emmanuel player since 2018 to finish the season with at least 300 kills in a single season. She also contributed 2.68 digs per set and 40 service aces, both second-most on the team.

Moriarty played in 27 of the Saints 28 matches this season, leading the team in service aces with 47, total assists with 379, and assists per set with 4.31.

Emmanuel women's volleyball finished the season with a winning record (17-11) for the first time since 2014, qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2018, and won a playoff match for the first time since 2014. After being voted 12^th in the GNAC Preseason Poll, the Saints overperformed by five spots, finishing seventh in the GNAC with a 9-6 conference record.