NORMAL, Ill. -- Missouri State's Lily Johnson is the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year for the third consecutive season, Emily Butters is the Libero of the Year, and Melissa Stokes is the Coach of the Year, headlining a group of six MSU players and coaches honored at the league's annual pre-tournament awards ceremony Thursday (Nov. 23) at Redbird Arena. Johnson, Butters, Aubrey Cheffey and Lynsey Wright earned first-team all-conference honors, while Daniele Messa is a second-team pick.

Johnson is the third three-time MVC Player of the Year recipient, sixth four-time first-team all-MVC selection, and first player to lead the MVC in kills four consecutive seasons. The senior outside hitter from Wildwood, Mo., ranks fourth nationally with 537 total kills and 606.5 total points, averaging 4.55 kills and 3.93 digs per set overall, and posting averages of 4.78 kills on .268 hitting, 4.49 digs, 5.38 points and 0.31 aces in league matches to rank in the top 10 in each category.

Johnson is a six-time MVC Player of the Week this season, and owns MVC records with 2,256 career kills and 6,489 attacks. She tallied 26 matches with at least 10 kills and 22 double-doubles this year, with four matches of at least 20 kills and 20 digs, an MSU single-season record. She is one of 10 players in NCAA history with at least 2,200 kills and 1,500 digs in a career, and ranks eighth in NCAA history with 510 consecutive sets played.

Butters is MSU's first Libero of the Year and is in the midst of one of the top defensive seasons in MSU history. The Richmond, Texas, native ranks fourth nationally with 690 total digs and ninth at 5.85 per set, both Missouri State single-season records. The junior has at least 10 digs in 30 of MSU's 31 matches with 22 outings of 20 of more. A four-time MVC Defensive Player of the Week in 2017, Butters had 44 digs on Oct. 13 at Drake, the second-highest total in Missouri State and fifth-best in Valley history. She averaged 6.25 digs per set with a .980 service reception percentage in MVC matches.

Wright makes the first team after ranking fourth in the MVC in hitting percentage at .328 and 10th in both kills (3.23) and points (3.67) per set, improving those numbers to 3.57 kills and 4.02 points on .353 hitting in league matches. The senior middle blocker owns 25 matches with at least 20 kills and two with 20 or more, hitting .300 or better in 21 matches and eclipsing the .400 mark 10 times. A native of Glen Carbon, Ill., Wright was the MVC Player of the Week on Sept. 5, and led MSU in kills six times this season while owning high blocking honors 12 times, averaging 0.67 stuffs per set for the year. She ranks eighth in MSU history in both kills (1,321) and attack efficiency (.298).

Cheffey, a sophomore right side from Nixa, Mo., ranks third on the Bears 232 total kills, averaging 2.32 kills on .231 hitting and 0.65 blocks overall, and 2.53 kills on .243 hitting in conference matches. She had 10 or more kills in 10 matches, with highs of 17 against No. 8 Kansas and Valparaiso. She also posted 31 kills without an error on 61 swings in consecutive late October outings, and hit .273 or higher in 11 matches with a high of .818 with nine kills against Tennessee State.

Messa, the 2016 MVC Freshman of the Year, lands on the second team this season after averaging 8.59 assists and 3.19 digs per set overall and 9.06 assists and 3.69 digs in league matches, posting those numbers despite the Bears spending time in a 6-2 offense that limited her opportunities on the floor. The sophomore from Bartlett, Ill., also ranks second on the team with 26 aces, hits .330 on the year, and has helped guide the offense to a .248 attack efficiency, the second-highest mark in school history. Messa had 10 or more digs in 19 matches, and her 29 digs on Oct. 13 at Drake were the most by a setter in school history.

Stokes picks up her second consecutive MVC Coach of the Year honor and third overall after guiding the Bears to their fifth regular-season conference title, a perfect 18-0 league record and a top-25 national ranking. MSU's 26 wins so far in 2017 equal the 2016 club for the program's highest total since 2007.

The top-seeded and 25th-ranked Bears (26-5, 18-0) begin MVC Tournament play Friday at 5 p.m. against the winner of Thursday's contest between Drake and Indiana State.