Icing On The Cake: Former Clarion Area Standout and Saint Francis University’s Korrin Burns 2025 Named NEC Women’s Volleyball Player Of The Year; Joins Coach Spielvogel For Top Awards; Alexandra Sappia and Kori McClure Make Squad Also
Photo courtesy of the Northeast Conference
Korrin Burns, who was an All-State player for the Clarion Area Bobcats, now an Outside Hitter for the NCAA Division I Saint Francis Red Flash, has earned the Northeast Conference’s (NEC) Top Award for 2025, being Named Player of the Year.
Korrin is joined on the Top Awards by Red Flash Head Coach Sara Spielvogel who was named Coach of the Year.
Korrin was joined on this year’s First Team by Saint Francis teammate Alexandra Sappia who was named at Setter. The Red Flash’s Kori McClure got the nod as a Middle Blocker.
Other Top Award recipients were: Rookie of the Year, Alessia Zampieri, a Right Side Hitter from Fairleigh Dickinson University; Defensive Player of the Year, Miabella Musignac, a Libero from Long Island University and Karly Klaer, a Setter from Long Island University.
Korrin was an eight-time NEC/Molten Player of the Week.
This is the third straight First Team selection for Korrin, the first Red Flash player to do so.
Korrin finished the regular season with 542 kills, 234 digs, 37 blocks and 26 service aces.
Reaching double digit kills in 26-of-27 matches, Korrin hit the 20-kill mark 15 times. She had 5.26 kills per set, the best in the NEC and her kills total was 187 more than the next closest player in the conference.
542 kills are a whopping 187 more than the next closest competitor in the league and the third-most in NCAA Division I. Speaking of national statistics, the outside hitter made a permanent residency all season in the top five in three more categories: kills per set, points and points per set. The Red Flash standout has recorded 1,297 kills in her four-year career, which ranks fifth in program history.
She passed the 1,000 career assist mark this season.
Korrin is the fourth Saint Francis student-athlete to be named NEC Player of the Year. She joins Jodi Cruse (1997), Megan Taliaferro (1999) and Madi Tyrus (2019) on the list.
Coach Spielvogel earned her second NEC Coach of the Year Award, having also won it in 2021. She has led Saint Francis since the 2016.
Her team is currently 19-8 overall. As of this article’s posting, she needs just two more wins to hit the 100-win mark, which would make her the first Red Flash coach to achieve that milestone.
Alexandra earned eleven NEC/Molten Prime Performers nods this season.
So far this season, Alexandra has 1,129 assists and 61 aces, both tops in the NEC.
She was named to the All-NEC Second Team last season.
Alexandra concluded the regular season with 17 games where she had 40 or more assists, her high being fifty-five. She passed the 2,000 assist mark this season.
Kori earned one Nec/Molten Player of the Week Award in 2025.
She finished the regular season with 211 kills, 72 blocks, 52 digs and thirty-two service aces.
Kori is currently in first place in Red Flash history for the best single season hitting percentage at .398 percent.
This is Kori’s second straight All-NEC selection, having made the First Team in 2024.
(Congratulations to Korrin, Alexandra, Kori and Coach Spielvogel on these great awards!!!! Thanks to Saint Francis University and the NEC for information for this article and to the NEC for their photo!!)
2025 Northeast Conference Women’s Volleyball Award Winners
Player of the Year: Korrin Burns – Saint Francis – Outside Hitter
Coach of the Year: Sara Spielvogel – Saint Francis -10th Season
Rookie of the Year: Alessia Zampieri – Fairleigh Dickinson University – Right Side Hitter
Defensive Player of the Year: Miabella Musignac – Long Island University – Libero
Setter of the Year: Karly Klaer – Long Island University – Setter
2025 Northeast Conference Women’s Volleyball First Team All-Conference
Korrin Burns – Saint Francis – Outside Hitter
Alexandra Sappia – Saint Francis – Setter
Sara Van Gisteren – Long Island University – Outside Hitter
Karly Klaer – Long Island University – Setter
Yasmeen Muhammad – Long Island University – Middle Blocker
Miabella Musignac – Long Island University – Libero
Kylie Nott – Fairleigh Dickinson University – Outside Hitter/Middle Blocker
2025 Northeast Conference Women’s Volleyball Second Team All-Conference
Kori McClure – Saint Francis – Middle Blocker
Mia Berardino – Stonehill College- Outside Hitter
Bella Correia – Long Island University – Outside Hitter
Kyndal Ganoe – Fairleigh Dickinson – Libero
Weronika Poczynek – Central Connecticut State University – Outside Hitter
Julia Shepherd – Mercyhurst University – Opposite Hitter
Alessia Zampieri – Fairleigh Dickinson University – Rightside Hitter