GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Louisville’s Amaya Tillman and Pitt’s Serena Gray have been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Volleyball Scholar-Athletes of the Year and headline the sport’s All-ACC Academic Team announced Tuesday.
A middle blocker from Topeka, Kansas, Tillman is a junior majoring in sport administration. She was an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-East Region and All-ACC Second Team selection this past year. Tillman helped lead Louisville to its second consecutive ACC Championship, first-ever No. 1 ranking in the AVCA Poll, first overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the program’s first NCAA Semifinal appearance.
Tillman led the Cardinals defensively with 1.35 blocks per set to rank third in the ACC and 12th nationally. She recorded five or more blocks in 12 matches, as Louisville led the conference and finished sixth in the nation with 338 blocks as a team.
Tillman earned her third All-ACC Academic Team honor in as many seasons with the Cards.
In her first season with the Panthers, Gray helped lead Pitt to its first appearance in the NCAA Semifinals and sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament. She was First-Team All-ACC, an AVCA East Coast All-Region selection and an honorable mention AVCA All-American. Gray became just the second Pitt volleyball student-athlete to garner CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America honors.
Gray started all 34 matches for Pitt and appeared in all but one set for the Panthers during their historic season. The Temple City, California, native ranked second in the ACC and No. 10 in the NCAA with a season hitting percentage of .417. Gray also paced the Panthers and ranked second in the ACC with 43 service aces.
A graduate student in applied developmental psychology, Gray has recorded a perfect 4.0 grade point average in her graduate studies.
Pitt’s Kayla Lund and Chinaza Ndee and Syracuse’s Polina Shemanova each claimed All-ACC Academic Team honors for the fourth time in their careers.
A total of 22 student-athletes who earned All-ACC honors this season also secured spots on the academic team, highlighted by season award winners: Duke’s Mackenzie Cole (Defensive Player of the Year), Louisville’s Tori Dilfer (Setter of the Year) and North Carolina’s Mabrey Shaffmaster (Freshman of the Year).
Additionally, seven…
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