Mason Named CAA Player of the Year, Basaranlar Lands On Second Team

RICHMOND, Va. – University of Delaware volleyball senior outside hitter Lani Mason was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Player of the Year, announced Wednesday morning by league officials. Along with taking top player honors, the Chester, Va. native earned a spot on the All-CAA first team while classmate setter Ezgi Basaranlar was honored as a second-team selection.

A pair of all-conference accolades comes home to Newark 👏

📰: https://t.co/lu0BiLAAmG pic.twitter.com/IMUQd45b5N
— Delaware Volleyball (@Delaware_VB) November 16, 2022

Mason is the Blue Hens' second CAA Player of the Year since Colleen Walsh took home the honors in 2007 and she has exceeded expectations in her third year in the Blue & Gold uniform. Mason has led the nation in kills per set from Oct. 2 through Oct. 13 and currently ranks fifth in the nation with 5.10 kills per set. Heading into this week's conference tournament, she is also averaging 5.58 points and 2.74 digs in 96 sets played. Mason has nailed down double-digit kills in 19-straight matches, including posting five 30-plus kill (two consecutive) performances. Her notable match this season include exploding for a career-best mark of 38 kills at Charleston (Oct. 2), which now sits atop the program history books, along with scooping up a career-high 24 digs in the five-set victory. Mason set a second career-best 35 kills against Northeastern (Nov. 18), which sits second in the program history books in most kills in a single match category. Mason has a career-best 14 double-doubles (kills/digs) on the season (longest streak: four matches), has been tabbed CAA Offensive Player of the Week four times and named GameChanger/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week once, becoming the first Blue Hen to ever receive the national nod. She leads the conference in kills per set, kills (490), points per set (5.58) and points (536). Mason ranks among the NCAA in points per set (5th), total kills (7th), points (8th), attacks per set (13th, 12.02) and total attacks (26th, 1,154).

Who else but @laniimason 🤷‍♀️

📰: https://t.co/lu0BiLAAmG pic.twitter.com/rgO23QyiV4
— Delaware Volleyball (@Delaware_VB) November 16, 2022

Basaranlar, a Istanbul, Turkey product, was also a force to be reckoned with this season, adding her third-career postseason award to her resume. A back-to-back second-team honoree, Basaranlar leads the team with 714 assists (9.78 a/per set) in 73 sets played. She recorded three double-doubles (assists/digs) and dished out double-digit assists in 18 of her 19 appearances, including a career-best 65 assists against William & Mary (Nov. 5). Basaranlar's 65-assist outing is a mark that now sits tied for eighth in the record books. Among the conference leaders, Basaranlar ranks third in assists per set and fifth in assists.

First Team All-CAA

Name	School	Class	Pos.	Hometown
Zyare Abdul-Rahim	Hofstra	R-Sr.	OH/RS	Baltimore, Md.
Beatriz Alves	Hofstra	So.	S	São José dos Campos, Brazil
Victoria Barrett	Towson	So.	OH	Stafford, Va.
Nina Cajic	Towson	Jr.	OPP	Subotica, Serbia
Chiara Cucco	Hofstra	So.	L/DS	Buscate, Italy
Leah Daniel	Elon	Sr.	OH	Zionsville, Ind.
Lani Mason	Delaware	Sr.	OH	Chester, Va.
Erica Staunton	Northeastern	Sr.	OH	Orland Park, Ill.
Lydia Wiers	Towson	Sr.	MB	Willard, Ohio

Second Team All-CAA

Name	School	Class	Pos.	Hometown
Ezgi Basaranlar	Delaware	Sr.	S	Istanbul, Turkey
Claire Campbell	Charleston	Gr.	MB	Raleigh, N.C.
Haylie Clark	Elon	Sr.	S/RS	Saint Cloud, Fla.
Nailah Jenkins	Northeastern	Sr.	MB	Atlanta, Ga.
Kali Moore	Stony Brook	Fr.	OH	Brooklyn, N.Y.
Anna Porter	William & Mary	Sr.	L	Atlanta, Ga.
Naiya Sawtelle	North Carolina A&T	So.	OH	Stuart, Fla.
Aayinde Smith	Towson	Jr.	MB	Garland, Texas
Izadora Stedile	Hofstra	Fr.	OH	Paraná, Brazil
Eleanor Stothoff	William & Mary	So.	OH	Pittstown, N.J.

2022 CAA Player of the Year: Lani Mason, Delaware
2022 CAA Setter of the Year: Beatriz Alves, Hofstra
2022 CAA Libero of the Year: Chiara Cucco, Hofstra
2022 CAA Rookie of the Year: Kali Moore, Stony Brook
2022 CAA Coach of the Year: Don Metil, Towson

CAA All-Rookie Team

Name	School	Class	Pos.	Hometown
Sarah Jordan	Towson	Fr.	S	Leesburg, Va.
Clara LaRue	Elon	Fr.	OH	Lewisville, N.C.
Ryann Love	William & Mary	Fr.	MB	Chesapeake, Va.
Kali Moore	Stony Brook	Fr.	OH	Brooklyn, N.Y.
Emilly Nunes	Hofstra	Fr.	MB	Brasilia, Brazil
Izadora Stedile	Hofstra	Fr.	OH	Paraná, Brazil

WHAT'S NEXT
Mason, Basaranlar and the rest of the Blue Hens will return to the court tomorrow, Nov. 17 to open the 2022 CAA Volleyball Championship, presented by Primis, hosted by Towson, with a quarterfinal round matchup against sixth-seeded Charleston at 7 p.m. inside SECU Arena in Towson, Md.

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Mason Named CAA Player of the Year, Basaranlar Lands On Second Team

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