JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Atlantic Sun Conference announced the 2024 Volleyball postseason honors on Wednesday.
FGCU's Shelby Kent led the Eagles to a 15-1 ASUN record and the 2024 Regular Season title and was named the Player of the Year. She has been awarded the ASUN Player of the Week three times this season and has registered 11 double-doubles. She averages 4.38 kills per set and is leading FGCU in the area of digs with 284.
Josie Schmitendorf leads the ASUN and ranks 21st in the NCAA with 517 total digs this season for EKU. Her 4.70 digs per set average ranks 39th in the nation and helped her secure the Defensive Player of the Year honor. The senior has tallied 20 or more digs in 12 of 29 matches this season which included a career-high 33 in a win against North Florida.
Setter of the Year Caylan Koons led the league and ranked in the top-40 in the nation averaging 10.14 assists per set, and was second in the ASUN with 1,044 total assists. She had 12 matches with over 40 assists, five matches with more than 50, and two with more than 60 assists for Central Arkansas. She also added 62 kills, 25 aces, 230 digs and 37 blocks, racking up ten double-doubles on the season.
North Alabama's Reese Ricketts finished her freshman season leading the team in points and kills with 435 points and 390 kills respectively. The Freshman of the Year was a consistent double-double threat, totaling 15 on the season. She secured double-digit kills in 25 matches and double-digit digs in 16 matches, including 19-straight double-digit kill matches to end the regular season.
After guiding Central Arkansas to a 13-3 conference record, which was the program's best since joining the league 2021, John Newberry was named the Coach of the Year. The Sugar Bears starting league play 7-0 and finished the season in 8-1 on their home court.
Player of the Year: Shelby Kent, FGCU
Defensive Player of the Year: Josie Schmitendorf, EKU
Setter of the Year: Caylan Koons, Central Arkansas
Freshman of the Year: Reese Ricketts, North Alabama
Coach of the Year: John Newberry, Central Arkansas
First Team All-ASUN
Shelby Kent, FGCU
Laci Bohannan, Central Arkansas
Sarah Mitchell, EKU**
Josie Schmitendorf, EKU**
Skylar English, FGCU
Courtney Jones, Lipscomb
Meg Mersman, Lipscomb****
Second Team All-ASUN
Caylan Koons, Central Arkansas
Alexis McDaniel, Central Arkansas
Mackenzie Vernon, Central Arkansas
Carson Ledford, EKU**
Breanna McDonough, Jacksonville
Sophia Hudepohl, Lipscomb**
Jasmine Brooks, North Alabama
Third Team All-ASUN
Emilee Hill, EKU
AG Vandagriff, EKU**
Ella Chapman, FGCU**
Addi Pelham, Lipscomb**
Reese Ricketts, North Alabama
Amy Burkhardt, North Florida
Victoria Schmer, West Georgia
* denotes the number of career All-ASUN selections
All-Freshman Team
Reese Ricketts, North Alabama^
Regan Harp, Central Arkansas^
Cooper Abney, EKU
Raegan Richardson, FGCU
Haley Yount, Jacksonville
Audrey Small, North Alabama
Ana Tobar, Jacksonville
^ denotes a unanimous selection to the All-Freshman Team