While the University of Maine women’s volleyball team will have to wait until today to try to extend their season at the America East tournament, the postseason hardware started pouring in on Friday for some Black Bears.

Leah Voss, a senior from Gettysburg, Pa., was named the America East player of the year, while freshman Carmen Gabriel of Watson, Saskatchewan, earned a spot on the all-rookie team.

Sophomore setter Cheryl Elliott and Gabriel were also named All-league honorable mention selections.

Second-year Towson coach Chris Riley was tabbed as coach of the year, while Stephanie Voickers of Hartford was rookie of the year. Northeastern’s Kristin Ursillo was named the league’s top setter and Towson’s Lisa Weir was its top defensive specialist.

Voss joined four Northeastern players and two players from both Towson and New Hampshire on the all-conference team. Albany, Drexel, Hartford and Maine had one player each on the squad.

Voss, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, leads the league with 3.31 digs per game, and is the Black Bears’ top hitting threat with 4.14 kils per game.

Gabriel, a 6-0 right-side hitter who can also set, piled up 248 kills (2.61 per game) and compiled a .209 hitting percentage. She also ranked 10th in the league with 0.76 blocks per game.

Elliott was one of the most productive setters in the league, handing out 11.72 assists per game. That was more than the 11.18 per game amassed by Ursillo, the league’s top setter, and just less than the 11.90 apg of Towson’s Andrea LeBlanc, who also was named to the 12-member all-league team.

No rest for Ouellet, Stevens

There is nothing like plopping down in an overstuffed chair after a long season and relaxing. The body still aches, but in the days ahead, the pain subsides.

Rebecca Ouellet and Emily Stevens don’t have that luxury.

Ouellet is a field hockey player at the University of Maine and Stevens plays for the Black Bear women’s soccer team. As soon as those seasons end, Ouellet and Stevens meander across to Alfond Arena where they lace on their skates for the women’s hockey team.

Both are sophomores and are important contributors in both of their sports. Ouellet, a native of Amesbury, Mass., is a back on the field hockey team and a defenseman in ice hockey while Stevens, who hails from Hamilton, Ontario, is a striker in soccer and winger in hockey.

“The first adjustment is really tiring just because the schedule changes. Practice times are different and the coaches are different, too. But staying right in a season, you just keep going. As long as you don’t stop, you’ll be all right,” chuckled Ouellet.

“It usually takes a day or two for the muscles to adjust only because the muscles you use are completely opposite,” she added. “Field hockey is more front and back, hockey is more side to side. You get sore the first couple of days. You’re obviously rusty on your skates.

“The stickhandling is a lot different,” Ouellet said. “In ice hockey, you can use both sides of the stick and the stick is longer. It feels a lot lighter.”

She said the adjustment has been “much easier” this year than last year because “I know the [ice hockey] systems.”

Stevens said the adjustment for her hasn’t been difficult.

“You’re already in season and you just go to another season. You practice every day. There’s a little bit of difference with the lifting [weights]. We don’t have any lifting in soccer [during the season]. But it’s the same time commitment. There are no early mornings and that’s fine by me.”

She said it takes a while to gain her skating balance when she first comes over to hockey.

“I know Becca doesn’t have as much problem with the stick but I haven’t touched a stick in a while so my puck skills [are behind]. It takes about a week or so but once you get in a few games [you’re fine],” said Stevens.

She agreed with Ouellet that the adjustment was easier this season.

“By lifting all last year, it made me stronger. So when I came for hockey, my muscles were used to the work,” said Stevens.

Ouellet and Stevens both said they are forced to budget their study time to keep up with their academic workloads.

“It gets hard because I miss so much class. When I get back from trips, I have to make up stuff in my spare time,” said Ouellet. “I miss a lot of tests and a lot of my major classes on Friday. This is my fifth weekend in a row I’m missing class [on Friday]. I’m lucky my professors let me work around that. I do a lot of work on the road.”

Stevens agreed.

“I’m up until two in the morning doing schoolwork. I miss a lot, class-wise, I guess. But it’s OK. The teachers are good,” she said. “They give you extensions or extra help whenever you need it. It’s pretty good.”

Neither one has a favorite sport and both enjoy playing two.

“It’s definitely all worth it. I couldn’t imagine giving up either one,” said Ouellet.

“The reason I came to this school is so that I could play both,” said Stevens. “I’ve always played both.”

Their tireless dedication to both has impressed their coach and teammates.

Sophomore winger Karen Droog said, “they definitely give us a lift” and coach Rick Filighera pointed out that not only are they important contributors in both of their sports “but they’re two of the top students in each program.

Ouellet had three goals and four assists in 18 field hockey games and has yet to register a point in two ice hockey games. Stevens had two goals and an assist in soccer and has a goal in her first four hockey games.