COLUMBUS, Ohio - As the 2026 Great Midwest Volleyball Championship takes place this week, the 2026 All-Conference teams and Individual Awards were announced on Thursday (Nov. 12) afternoon. The head coaches of the league voted on the All-Conference teams, awarding 24 student-athletes across four different positions and splitting them into First and Second Teams.
Freshman outside hitter
Annie Fincham was voted as the top Freshman and First Team All-Conference while senior setter
Tess Hayes was selected to the Second Team.
Annie Fincham - Freshman of the Year & First Team All-Conference
Fincham finished her freshman campaign with 274 kills, a .295 hitting %, 12 service aces while adding 90 digs and scoring 292 points. Over her 82 sets in 25 matches, Fincham totaled 3.34 kills/set, 1.10 digs/set and 3.56 points/set.
She had 17 matches with at least ten kills, reaching as many as 17 kills in a match three different times.
Within the G-MAC, Fincham was fourth in points/set and kills/set, eighth in total kills, ninth in hitting percentage
Tess Hayes - Second Team All-Conference
Hayes tallied 770 assists over 29 matches (27 starts) for the Panthers this season. She added 21 kills and 214 digs to go with her 63 service aces. Playing in 107 sets of a possible 108, Hayes averaged 7.2 assists, 0.59 aces and 2.0 digs per set in her senior campaign.
She reached double-digit assists in all 29 matches and had at least 20 assists in 25 of those matches. Her season-best was 36 at Malone back in October. Hayes notched at least one service ace in 26 matches with a high mark of seven aces vs. Shawnee State. Hayes had six matches of at least ten digs.
The senior led the G-MAC in aces and aces/set while sitting fourth in assists and fifth in assists/set. Among Division II, Hayes was seventh in service aces and eighth in aces/set.
Since joining the G-MAC in 2017, the Panthers have had four First Team All-Conference winners, nine players named to Second Team All-Conference and two voted to the Third Team. Fincham becomes the first individual award winners on the playing side in the G-MAC era.
