Bush All-Region, Hunt Wins Freshman Of The Year

SEATTLE – Husky middle blocker Julia Hunt was named the AVCA Northwest Region Freshman of the Year today, and outside hitter Emoni Bush was named to the All-Region Team. Hunt becomes just the fourth Husky to win the Region Freshman of the Year award.
 
All-Region honors are the last step before All-America teams are decided. In addition to her Freshman of the Year honor, Hunt was named honorable mention for the All-Region Team.
 
Bush led the Huskies in total kills for the season with 296 and was second on a per set basis with 2.62. She led UW in kills in nine matches, making a big impact after she redshirted the 2023 season recovering from surgery. The Campbell River, Canada native played primarily on the right side, but also shifted to the left for several matches, including the win at Minnesota where she had a career-high-tying 19 kills. Bush averaged a career-high 0.64 blocks per set and 0.94 digs per set and hit .229
 
Hunt made a big impact, starting all but one match in the middle for the Dawgs, and leading the team with a .330 attack percentage. She also led the squad with 1.18 blocks per set. Hunt was the first Husky to win a Big Ten Player of the Week award when she was named Freshman of the Week on Sept. 16. The Covington, Ky. product reached double-digit kills in six matches, and hit over .400 with 5+ kills in 13 matches. She was also an effective server, with matches of six aces (11/7 vs Minnesota) and five aces (11/17 vs Northwestern), ranking third on the team in total aces with 27.
 
Hunt joins a short list of Huskies to win Region Freshman of the Year, and all three previous winners were outside hitters. Christal Morrison was the first winner in 2004, Krista Vansant won it next in 2011, and current senior Madi Endsley won in 2020.