Megan Brown, a freshman at Worcester State, was recently named the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year for women's volleyball.

In addition to being selected as Rookie of the Year, which was the result of a vote by the league's seven head coaches, the Dartmouth product was selected to the All-MASCAC First Team, the only Worcester State representative on the All-Conference team.

Brown led the Lancers with 238 kills and 272 digs in 101 games, and notched eight solo blocks, nine block assists and 25 service aces. She finished the regular season ranked third in the MASCAC in total digs, fifth in total kills and average kills (2.36) and seventh in average digs (2.69).

"Megan was an impact player the first day she stepped on the court," said Lancers head coach Bernie Chase. "She is an outstanding outside hitter and defender. She is a leader on and off the court, and is the go-to person when the offense needs a kill."

Brown earned herself a role on the team right from the start, but had big shoes to fill in place of graduated outside hitter Lauren Saylor, a product of Case High School in Swansea and a four-time All-MASCAC selection.

"I was hoping I'd get a chance to contribute right away. I knew I'd have to play at a high level and try as hard as I could to make an impact," Brown said.

It's no surprise that Brown was ready to step right into a starting role in college; after all, she's the product of a volleyball family. Her mother Diane, a former Division 1 college player, is the head coach at Dartmouth High, where Megan's sister Molly currently stars.

"I've always been around the sport. I've been playing it my whole life," Brown said. "I heard the practices would be more intense in college but our practices at Dartmouth High were pretty intense anyway."

However, Brown contributed even more than she expected to, playing in every game of every match and only taking a few points off late in a few games to get a breather.

"She was always injury-free and ready to play," Chase said.

The Lancers' season ended on Saturday when they fell 3-0 to Bridgewater State University in the semifinals of the MASCAC tournament.

"I had a really good freshman season, but I'm going to try to improve and do even better things over the next three years," Brown said.