Laina Kariniemi (13) huddles with teammates Madelyn Torola (12), Allison Bjorn (17) and Jackie Kiilunen (11) in a game in Calumet this season. (Eddie O’Neill/Daily Mining Gazette)

MARQUETTE — For the first time in its 70-plus-year history, the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association has chosen to select and honor the U.P.’s best high school volleyball players. Awards were divided between Division 1-3 teams and players and Division 4 teams and players.

In Division 1-3 nominees, Calumet coach Kate Bonacorsi was named Coach of the Year. She just led the Copper Kings (19-2) to their fourth consecutive regional title in MHSAA Division 3 play.

The Copper Kings were appropriately named the Division 1-3 Team of the Year, and several players from the team received top honors. Among them were Laina Kariniemi and Allie Bjorn, who were named to the Dream Team.

Earning spots on the Division 1-3 First Team were Houghton’s Brynn Arko, Hancock’s Brielle Kero and Brooke Koskela, Kaeda Rajala, of Jeffers, and Calumet’s Jackie Kiilunen.

On the Division 1-3 Second Team, Jeffers’ Sara Johnson, Houghton’s Clea Ollanketo and Laney Johnson, as well as Calumet’s Caitlyn Strom and Maddie Torola all received honors.

Maddy Kreider, of Kingsford, was named Ms. Volleyball. The Divison 1-3 Offensive Player of the Year was Ella Schuetter, of Manistique. Maddy Kreider, of Kingsford, was named Defensive Player of the Year.

The All-UP Dream Team includes: Kariniemi, Calumet; Bjorn, Calumet; Schuetter, Manistique; Ema Stepien, Crystal Falls Forest Park; Ava Fisher, Crystal Falls Forest Park; Kreider, Kingsford; Jaylee Dellies, Marquette; Elisa Rizzoli, Newberry; Emma Jones, Manistique; Mia Hauser, Stephenson; Danika Shamion, West Iron County.

Division 1-3 First Team players include: Arko, Houghton; Marisa Hird, Negaunee; Kero, Hancock; Ava Maki, Marquette; Rajala, Jeffers; Kiilunen, Calumet; Leah Goudreau, Manistique, Kailey Sundquist, Kingsford; Koskela, Hancock; and Lucy Huskey, Sault Ste. Marie.

Division 1-3 Second Team honors went to: Ashley Bell, Negaunee; Andrea Cerma, Escanaba; Sara Johnson, Jeffers; Ellery Nash, Kingsford; Ollanketo, Houghton; Lauren Zawada, Bark River-Harris; Johnson, Houghton; Strom, Calumet; Torola, Calumet; Alyssa Larson, Kingsford; and Danielle Lund, Manistique.

In Division 4 voting, Abi Codere, of Lake Linden-Hubbell, earned a spot on the Second Team, as did Makenna Hedrickson, of Baraga, and Ewen-Trout Creek’s Irelynd McGeshick.

The Division 4 volleyball Coach of the Year was Jackson Miller, of Stephenson. Crystal Falls Forest Park earned the Team of the Year Award. Also in Division 4 honors, Emma Stepien, of Crystal Falls Forest Park, was named Offensive Player of the Year while Elisa Rizzoli, Newberry, was named the Defensive Player of th Year.

The Division 4 First Team includes: Bree Delich, Ironwood; Klaire Kwiatkowski, Rudyard; Lily Kwiatkowski, Rudyard; Leah Feldhausen, Crystal Falls Forest Park; Samantha Kedsch, Carney-Nadeau; Kayla Swanson, Stephenson; Charlie Larson, Crystal Falls Forest Park; Mattie Prestin, Stephenson; Alice Hancock, Superior Central, and Noelle Grace, Wakefield-Marenisco.

Second Team honors went to: Mia Hemmer, Ishpeming; Amelia Shanely, Newberry; Audrey Franz, Crystal Falls Forest Park; Sonja Kiviniemi, Ishpeming; Codere, Lake Linden-Hubbell; Audra Pawlak, Ironwood; Bailey Corcoran, Munising; Addison Schroeder, Newberry; Jillian Fraser, St. Ignace; Hendrickson, Baraga; Chloe May, Maplewood Baptist and McGeshick, Ewen-Trout Creek.