Trio of Jayhawks earn preseason all-Big 12 volleyball recognition

By Matt Tait     Jun 22, 2021

Photo courtesy of Kansas Athletics
KU freshman Caroline Bien, of St. Thomas Aquinas, has been named the Big 12 Conference's Preseason Freshman of the Year.

For the second year in a row, the Kansas volleyball roster features the Big 12 Conference’s Preseason Freshman of the Year.

In 2020, it was local prospect Caroline Crawford who earned the honor, and this year Caroline Bien received the early recognition from the Big 12 coaches.

Bien, a product of St. Thomas Aquinas High, was the Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year and No. 14 overall prospect in the Class of 2021 by PrepVolleyball.com.

Bien, who played both outside hitter and libero in high school, led the Saints to a 29-2 record and Class 5A state title last season and also was named a first team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.

“Caroline has elite platform skills (and) has developed into a high-level attacker as well,” KU coach Ray Bechard said when Bien signed with Kansas last November. “This combination will allow her to significantly impact our program as a six-rotation performer. Caroline has great feel for the game, she is a proven winner and she has a lot of great volleyball ahead of her.”

Bien was joined on this year’s preseason all-Big 12 squad by Crawford, now a sophomore, and super senior Jenny Mosser.

As a freshman, the standout middle blocker from Lansing High appeared in all 22 of KU’s matches and earned both first team all-Big 12 honors and a spot on the all-Big 12 Rookie Team.

Mosser, who came to KU from UCLA prior to the start of the 2020 season, also earned first-team all-Big 12 honors last season after leading KU in kills (229) and kills per set (3.37) in the 18 matches in which she appeared.

With all 16 players from last season’s roster returning and four newcomers joining the mix, KU will field its largest roster in school history this fall.

The Jayhawks will open Big 12 play at Texas Tech on Sept. 24 before hosting Iowa State Oct. 1-2 in the program’s first Big 12 home series of the season.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.