Volleyball All-Conference Teams and Awards Announced

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer’s Skye Ekes was named the Southern Conference Volleyball Player of the Year for the 2024 season. ETSU’s Lindsey Devine was named SoCon Coach of the Year and Wofford sophomore Laney Klika was selected as SoCon Libero of the Year, while the Bears’ Brooke Phillips was named SoCon Setter of the Year. UNCG outside hitter Allie Sweet earned the Rayna Taylor Award, given annually to the league’s freshman of the year.

The league’s coaches voted on a pair of all-conference teams, an all-freshman team and the five individual awards. They were not allowed to vote for themselves or their own players. The second team features an additional player due to a tie in the voting.

Ekes claims the player of the year award after leading Mercer to a 14-2 mark in conference play en route to the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Southern Conference Volleyball Championship. The Sarasota, Florida native is second in the conference in kills (410), points (474.5) and kills per set (3.76). The senior was named SoCon Offensive Player of the Week once during the season. Ekes, who is a transfer from Florida State, helped lead Mercer to its first outright SoCon regular-season championship this season.

Devine earned coach of the year honors after leading the Buccaneers to an 18-10 overall record, with the team going 8-2 over their last 10 regular season matches. Devine, who was the ETSU head coach from 2003-18, returned to Johnson City this season after coaching in SEC for four seasons, three with Alabama and one with Mississippi State. This season marks the third time that Devine was named the SoCon Coach of the Year, with the other occurrences happening in 2016 and 2018.

Klika averaged 5.21 digs per set for Wofford this season. The native of Novelty, Ohio, is second in the league in total digs (537), which is 13th in the NCAA. Klika received SoCon Defensive Player of the Week in consecutive weeks back on Sept. 23 and 30. Klika, who is the first Terrier to be named SoCon Libero of the Year, is one of two players in the league averaging over five digs per set.

Phillips is the third player in conference history to be awarded SoCon Setter of the Year, joining ETSU’s Caroline Dykes and The Citadel’s Belle Hogan, the 2022 and 2023 winners, respectively. Phillips finished the regular season with 1,066 total assists, which is second in the SoCon. The graduate student from Indianapolis, Indiana, also has 69 services aces this season, making her second in the NCAA in that category. Phillips was named the SoCon Setter of the Week four times during the regular season.
 
Sweet earned UNCG’s fourth SoCon Freshman of the Year honor. The Woodstock, Georgia, product led the league in points (498.5) and kills (442). Sweet earned SoCon Offensive Player of the Week twice during the season.

Mercer led the way with seven postseason all-conference or all-freshman selections followed by Wofford with four. ETSU and Chattanooga each had three selections, while UNCG and Samford had two apiece. The Citadel had one selection.
 
Ekes and Phillips each made the first team and were joined by teammate Skyler Bumpers, who received the designation for the second straight season. Bumpers started all 29 games for the Bears, finishing with a team-high 75 blocks.

Sweet, Samford’s Gracie Lynn Butler, Chattanooga’s Chard’e Vanzandt and Wofford’s Sarah MacLean rounded out the first team. Butler, who made the first team for the second consecutive year, ranked fourth in the league in kills per set (3.31). Vanzandt concludes the regular season in the top five in the SoCon in kills (374), hitting percentage (.343) and points (434). MacLean led the conference in hitting percentage (.353).

The second team is highlighted by a pair of players from Wofford as Klika was joined on the second team by outside hitter Mary Emily Morgan. ETSU also placed two players on the second team as setter Reese Rhodes and middle blocker Abbey Thomas made the squad. Morgan finished second on the Terriers in kills (274) and digs (332). Rhodes is in the top five in the SoCon in service aces (39) and assists (973). Thomas led the league in total blocks (119) and blocks per set (1.18).

The Citadel outside hitter Ali Ruffin, the 2023 SoCon Player of the Year, and Samford outside hitter Kaleigh Meritt each made the second team. Ruffin finished the regular season with 315 kills and 420 digs. Meritt concluded the regular season third in the SoCon in kills per set (3.55).

Mercer libero MeMe Davis and Chattanooga libero Paige Gallentine rounded out the second team. Davis finished the season with 525 digs, which is third in the league. Gallentine leads the conference in digs with 624, the fourth-best mark in the NCAA in the category.

Along with Sweet and Davis, the all-freshman team includes ETSU’s Makayla Bays, Mercer’s Lou Johnson and Sophia Henry, Chattanooga’s Kynli Kirkendoll and Wofford’s Bradley Brown.

The Southern Conference Volleyball Championship begins on Thursday with a matchup between Western Carolina and UNCG. The tournament continues on Friday with four quarterfinal matches. Saturday features a pair of semifinal matches, with the championship set for Sunday at 4 p.m. All eight matches will be held in Wofford’s Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium and all will be broadcast on ESPN+.

2024 All-Southern Conference Volleyball Teams and Awards

Player of the Year – Skye Ekes, Mercer, Sr., OH  
Rayna Taylor Freshman of the Year – Allie Sweet, UNCG, OH

Libero of the Year – Laney Klika, Wofford, So.
Setter of the Year – Brooke Phillips, Mercer, Gr.
Coach of the Year – Lindsey Devine, ETSU
 
All-SoCon First Team
Skyler Bumpers, Mercer, Sr., MB

Skye Ekes, Mercer, Sr., OH

Brooke Phillips, Mercer, Gr., S

Allie Sweet, UNCG, Fr., OH

Gracie Lynn Butler, Samford, Sr., OH

Chard'e Vanzandt, Chattanooga, Sr., RS

Sarah MacLean, Wofford, Sr., RS
 
All-SoCon Second Team

Ali Ruffin, The Citadel, Sr., OH
Reese Rhodes, ETSU, Gr., S

Abbey Thomas, ETSU, Sr., MB

MeMe Davis, Mercer, Fr., LIB

Kaleigh Meritt, Samford, So., OH

Paige Gallentine, Chattanooga, Sr., LIB

Laney Klika, Wofford, So., LIB

Mary Emily Morgan, Wofford, Sr., OH
 
All-Freshman Team
Makayla Bays, ETSU, OH

MeMe Davis, Mercer, LIB

Lou Johnson, Mercer, MB

Sophia Henry, Mercer, OH

Allie Sweet, UNCG, OH

Kynli Kirkendoll, Chattanooga, MB

Bradley Brown, Wofford, MB