AZUSA, Calif. -- Senior outside hitter Jill Baker was named the NAIA Player of the Year, becoming the second player in Azusa Pacific volleyball history to claim the association’s top award. With her selection to the NAIA All-American first team, Baker becomes Azusa Pacific’s first 3-time first team selection, and she was joined on the All-American list by second-team sophomore middle blocker Amy Alkazin.

“It’s a huge honor,” Baker said. “More than anything, I just feel blessed to have the teammates that I have, the coaching staff, the athletic trainers, and everyone who has supported our team. The hard work and support of all those people ultimately leads to an honor like this, and I feel blessed to be able to receive it on behalf of Azusa Pacific volleyball, the Athletics program, and everyone who’s been involved in my career the past 4 years.”

Baker adds the national honors to her 2009 Golden State Athletic Conference Player of the Year award after she led Azusa Pacific to a 28-9 campaign, the fourth-highest single-season win total in program history. The 28-win total was the highest ever for a season in which the Cougars played fewer than 40 matches. She led the Cougars to their best GSAC finish (third) since 1991 and led the conference in overall total kills and kills per set in conference play. Baker is also the only player in the history of Azusa Pacific’s volleyball program to be a part of 8 NAIA Tournament wins.

“Jill’s impact on our program has been immense,” Cougar head coach Chris Keife said. “I’ve heard numerous times from all of her teammates that she’s the type of girl that will do anything for anybody, and she never thinks of herself first. She’s liked by everybody, and everyone looks at her as a great person and a great leader. She’s helped us recruit some better talent, as well, because people see a talent like her and they want to come play for us, too.”

The 6-foot-2 outside hitter broke her own single-season kills record, recording 617 kills in 2009 to edge the previous mark of 615 kills she set in 2007. Baker owns Azusa Pacific’s single-match, single-season and career kills records, and she ranks in the career top 20 in every major statistical category at Azusa Pacific. She finished fourth in career digs (1,570), sixth in aces (132), 15th in solo blocks (57) and 17th in total blocks (263) over her 4-year career.

“There’s been a lot of personal growth for me during my career,” Baker said. “One of my goals throughout has been to keep improving and bettering my team with each skill I perform on the court. It’s a lot of fun to have times like this to rejoice and remember everything and everyone who has played a part in my development as a player and as a person.”

She is 1 of just 3 players in Cougar history to surpass 1,500 career kills and digs, and her 2,345 career kills makes her the only player to reach and pass 2,000 career kills. Baker finished the 2009 NAIA Tournament with back-to-back 20-plus kill performances, giving her 40 career matches of 20 or more kills. In 137 career matches, she posted double-digits in both kills and digs 86 times.

Baker also earned her second straight NAIA All-Tournament recognition after registering 90 kills (5.0 kills per set) in 5 matches at last week’s NAIA Volleyball National Championship. Azusa Pacific matched its deepest run at the national tournament since winning the 1980 title with a quarterfinals appearance against conference rival Concordia. The Cougars lost in 4 sets, but Baker tallied 20 kills, 12 digs and a block in the match.

“Coming from our conference with so many good players and teams, I definitely know she’s in that upper echelon of players and can compete with those athletes,” Keife said. “This year, I knew she had a chance at getting national player of the year, but with that she had to represent herself well statistically and our team had to show some success at the national tournament. I think we achieved both of those things. She has the ability to do anything she wants to do.”

Alkazin adds the NAIA All-American second team honor to her second consecutive All-GSAC award after posting a team-high .412 attack percentage on the season along with the team’s second-highest blocking total (142). Alkazin came just 6 percentage points from breaking the Cougars’ single-season attack percentage record, finishing with 282 kills against 56 errors in 549 attempts. Alkazin went through an entire match without an error 7 times in 2009, and she converted at a .250 percentage or higher in all but 4 matches this year.

Click below for the full NAIA All-America team, which was released Monday by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. Seven of the 14 first-team honorees came from the Golden State Athletic Conference, which has produced 6 of the past 7 NAIA champions.

2009 Tachikara-NAIA All-America Volleyball Team

Baker will represent Azusa Pacific and the NAIA at the 2009 American Volleyball Coaches Association annual convention in Tampa, Fla., where she will be honored at the AVCA All-America/Players of the Year Banquet on Friday, Dec. 18. The following night, she will be recognized along with the NCAA Division I All-Americans and collegiate players of the year during the NCAA Division I National Championship match.