ROCHESTER, N.Y. – RIT senior outside hitter Katie Hobler was named the Liberty League Women's Volleyball Player of the Year while freshman setter Sydney Neff landed Rookie of the Year recognition and Head Coach Jim Lodes and his staff were voted Coaching Staff of the Year, announced Wednesday.
 
Hobler and Neff also joined senior outside hitter Taylor Higgins in garnering First-Team All-Liberty League recognition, while senior middle blocker Calista Gasper received honorable-mention honors.
 
Now a three-time first-team all-conference honoree, Hobler currently ranks 15th nationally with 4.13 kills per set while leading the Liberty League with a .306 hitting percentage. She also ranks 10th with 0.56 blocks per set. Hobler compiled double-digit kill totals in all but three matches this fall, including a season-high 22 versus St. Lawrence in the Liberty League Semifinals (Nov. 5) as well as 21 on a .420 hitting percentage in the Tigers' 3-2 victory opposite St. John Fisher (Oct. 15). She also collected 21 kills to go with 11 digs and four blocks in RIT's 3-2 victory over Clarkson (Sept. 24).
 
Neff leads the Liberty League and ranks 14th nationally with 10.44 assists per set while guiding the Tigers to 12th nationally with a .250 team hitting percentage. She also ranks second in the conference with 814 total assists, including at least 30 assists in 16 of the 24 matches she appeared. Neff totaled a season-high 59 assists in the Clarkson victory and also had 52 assists along with 12 digs opposite St. John Fisher.
 
Higgins is now a four-time Liberty League All-Star, following up second-team honors her first two seasons with first-team recognition in 2019 and 2021. She ranks third in the conference with 3.27 kills per set and is seventh with a .242 hitting percentage as well as eighth with 0.46 service aces per set. Totaling double-digit kills on 16 occasions, she put down a season-high 22 kills on a .400 hitting percentage in the 3-1 win at Cortland (Oct. 19). Higgins also notched 19 kills and 14 digs along with five service aces in RIT's 3-1 win over Ithaca (Oct. 13).
 
Gasper earned her first all-conference citation after ranking eighth in the Liberty League with a .241 hitting percentage as well as fourth with 0.72 blocks per set. She posted a season-high 13 kills in the Clarkson victory and also opened the season with a nine-kill showing on only 13 swings for a .692 hitting percentage coupled with five blocks in a 3-0 sweep of Fredonia (Sept. 17). Gasper also connected on eight-of-11 swings with only one error for a .636 attack percentage in a 3-0 sweep at Keene State (Oct. 2).
 
Lodes guided RIT to an unbeaten 7-0 Liberty League record for the first time in program history as well as an at-large berth in the program's 12th NCAA Division III Tournament. Ranked among the nation's top offensive teams, the Tigers also sit 19th in the country and first in the Liberty League in opponent hitting percentage, holding the opposition to a .096 attack average. RIT was selected one of the eight NCAA Regional Championships sites and is seeded first in the Rochester, N.Y. regional, to be held this Friday-Sunday (Nov. 12-14) in Clark Gymnasium.