Lottie Scully: For the first time, Scully was named the American East Setter of the Year. She led the conference with 8.73 assists per set and 917 total assists. The Binghamton volleyball team ended the year in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, where they lost to Bowling Green in the opening round 3-1. Scully ended the year with her sixth consecutive double-double with 38 assists and eleven digs, her tenth of the season. Binghamton won the American East Regular Season championship after sweeping the New Jersey Institute of Technology 3-0 on November 17. It secured the Bearcats second regular season title in three years. Albany upset Binghamton in the American East Tournament 3-1 on scores of 22-25, 25-12, 25-21 and 25-23. Scully had 39 assists and eleven digs against the Great Danes. Binghamton ended the year 19-10 overall, 8-2 in the American East. Scully was named to the College Sports Communications All-District team. She has a 3.51 GPA in Environmental Sciences.
Cameron Lloyd: The Bucknell volleyball team ended the year with a loss to Army in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. The Bison, which finished second in the Patriot League, ended the year 21-5. Bucknell finished with the highest winning percentage in team history at .808, beating the previous record of .788 set by the 1995 team. This season, Lloyd appeared in all 26 matches and registered 174 kills, 21 aces and 241 digs. Against Army, Lloyd tied for the team lead with eleven kills, along with eleven digs and an ace.
Cameron Lanier: The Elon volleyball team’s season ended with a loss to Delaware on November 16. The Phoenix finished 11-18, 5-13 in the Coastal Athletic Association. Lanier finished second on the team with 245 kills and 2.97 points per set. She had 598 total attacks, which led the team. After the season ended, Elon head coach Mary Tendler retired. Matt Troy, who won a national championship at Division III Johns Hopkins, was named the new head coach of the Phoenix.
Graylinn Serge: In her freshman season, Serge played in 13 matches for UNC Greensboro. She had four service aces across 31 sets. Used mainly for defensive purposes, Serge had 47 digs for a Spartans team that finished 8-22 overall, 2-14 in the Southern Conference.
Julie Altieri: The Division III Salisbury volleyball team reached the championship match of the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, falling to the second-seeded Christopher Newport Captains 3-2 (25-22, 13-25, 25-20, 30-32, 15-13) on November 16 at the Freeman Center in Newport News, VA. Altieri had a career-high with 56 assists and 20 digs, her 18th double-double of the year. Salisbury earned a trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament, where they lost to Middlebury 3-1 (25-14, 15-25, 25-17, 25-14) at the Kennedy Sports and Recreation Center in Huntingdon, PA. Altieri had 36 assists with 17 digs. Altieri finished the year with 1,048 assists, the ninth-most in school history. Salisbury won the Coast to Coast Regular Season Conference championship and finished 24-3 overall.
Ella Wimsatt: The Lenoir-Rhyne volleyball team finished the season in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. Augusta defeated the Bears 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-14) at Cuddy Arena in Wingate. In her freshman year, Wimsatt played 56 sets and had 27 kills, 12 aces and 140 digs. The Bears finished 25-7 overall, 15-4 in the South Atlantic Conference.
Payton Wilson: On January 11, Wilson played in his first NFL Playoff game for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Baltimore Ravens defeated Pittsburgh 28-14 at M&T Bank Stadium in the AFC Wildcard round. Wilson found himself in the line of fire as the Ravens set a playoff franchise record with 299 rushing yards. Wilson made six tackles, including one for a loss. Pro Football Focus named Wilson as the #13 overall linebacker, regardless of experience, among players who took at least 20% of their team’s snaps. PFF graded Wilson at 75.3, second among rookie linebackers only behind Green Bay’s Edgerrin Cooper. He finished the season fourth on the team with 78 tackles.
Katie Bells Sikes: The #11 Georgia women’s swimming team defeated UNC Wilmington in its first dual meet of the new calendar year on Saturday. Sikes won the 50-yard freestyle with a B-cut of 22.39 seconds. Sikes, who won her first college relay race in October, also saw the third leg of the 200 yard medley relay race, which the Bulldogs won at 1:38.67. Sikes finished her lap in 23.22 seconds. Georgia will face Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday.