GAC names year-end awards for volleyball

The Great American Conference announced its year-end awards for volleyball this week, including the All-GAC teams.

Oklahoma Baptist racked up several of the honors as Kaylee Buell won Setter of the Year, Avery Hellmuth won Freshman of the Year, and Anna Howle took home the Coach of the Year nod.

Harding’s Logan Smith was named Player of the Year while Henderson State’s Makenzie Thoman and Violeta Mendoza Quintana were named Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, respectively.

Oklahoma Baptist ended the regular season with a 15-0 record and enter the GAC Championships ranked No. 5 in the AVCA poll.

With the Bison averaging 2.99 blocks per set to lead Division II play, Smith marks the third Lady Bison to receive the nod. Harding took the Eastern Divison with a perfect 10-0 record to finish the regular season ranked No. 6 in the AVCA poll.

Mendoza Quintana ranked in the top 10 in kills and points per set this season, leading the Reddies with five double-doubles, while Thoman ranked second in the GAC in digs and 11th in aces per set.

Named to the All-GAC First Team were Smith, Buell, Thoman, Arkansas Tech’s Makenzie Eford, Harding’s Libby Hinton, Oklahoma Baptist’s Malia Leatherland, Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Kaydee Honeycutt and Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Allie Hoang.

The All-GAC Second Team consists of Harding’s Sarah Morehead and Ally Stoner, Southern Arkansas’ Morgan Gross and Morgan Schuster, Oklahoma Baptist’s Taneyah Brown and Diana Carranza, East Central’s Thalianette Garcia and Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Kate Deterding.

Arkansas-Monticello’s Katie

Pearson, Katelyn Richbourg and Faith Wilemon; Ouachita Baptist’s Lexie Castillow, Emily Low and Rileigh Fielder; Arkansas Tech’s Madison Grantham and Brianna Merkel; Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Ruthie Forson, Skylor Lewis, Anja Rodic and Grace Shehadeh; Southern Nazarene’s Meagan Ellis and Logan Matthews; Southwestern Oklahoma State’s Lacy Mott and Chezney Nielsen; and Oklahoma Baptist’s Audrey Poupard were named to the All-GAC Honorable Mention Team.

GAC NAMES WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF WEEK

Harding’s Romane Britt was recently named the GAC Women’s Tennis Player of the Week after the Lady Bisons picked up two conference wins.

Britt secured a singles record of 11-0 while taking down SAU’s Serena Gill and HSU’s Franny Nyarko. Britt paired with teammate Lindy Carpenter for a 6-2 win at No. 2 doubles against Georjemah Row and Katie Watts of HSU.

Others nominated included SAU’s Lena Milosevic and SEOSU’s Vanessa Nitu.

GAC SOCCER BRACKET FINALIZED

The GAC women’s Soccer Championship is set to begin Saturday with three first-round matches.

As No. 1 seed Oklahoma Baptist earned a first-round bye and will host the semifinals and finals, No. 2 OBU will kick off the competition Saturday against No. 7 NWOSU, while No. 3 SWOSU will take on No. 6 Southern Nazarene. No. 4 East Central will face off against No. 5 Harding to round out the competition on Saturday.

The first two rounds will be live-streamed by the the hosting school and the final will be livestreamed by the GAC Sports Network.