NEW ORLEANS - App State freshman
Elise Marchal was named Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and collected All-SBC honors alongside junior
Maya Winterhoff, redshirt junior
Addison Heidemann, and sophomore
Ava Leahy, the league announced Wednesday.
Marchal is the second Mountaineer to earn the Freshman of the Year accolade since App State joined the conference in 2014. Winterhoff won the award for the 2022 season. In addition to the Freshman of the Year nod, Marchal earned Second Team All-SBC honors. Marchal led the team in aces with 32 on the season, was second on the team in digs with 262, and was third on the team in kills (221 total, averaging 2.21 kills per set) and blocks (68 total, two solo, 66 assists). Marchal also tallied eight double-doubles this fall. She recorded a career high 15 kills against Troy on Nov. 14 and a career high 19 digs against Georgia Southern on Oct. 18. Marchal recorded double-figure kills in 10 matches and recorded double-figure digs in 16 matches. For the season as a whole, the Kings Mill, Ohio native rounded out the league's top-10 in aces. For conference only action, Marchal ranked fourth in the league in aces (23). As a freshman, she made 24 starts and appeared in all 100 sets on the season.
Winterhoff earned First Team All-SBC accolades after leading the team with 289 kills this season, averaging 2.89 kills per set and recording a hitting percentage of .381 this fall. She also led the Mountaineers in the blocks category with 101 (16 solo, 85 assists). Winterhoff recorded a career high 20 kills against Georgia State on Nov. 2. In 17 matches, Winterhoff recorded double-figure kills. For the season as a whole, the Charlottesville, Va. native led the Sun Belt in hitting percentage and ranked eighth in the league in blocks. For conference only action, Winterhoff ranked third in hitting percentage (.354) after recording 165 kills in conference play. She started all 25 matches for the Mountaineers and appeared in all 100 sets.
Collecting Second Team All-SBC honors with Marchal was Heidemann and Leahy. Heidemann, who was a two-time Sun Belt Setter of the Week selection this fall, led App State with 785 assists on the season, averaging 8.72 assists per set. She also helped the Mountaineers to a team hitting percentage of .234. Additionally, the Diller, NE native, tallied 10 double-doubles, served up 29 aces, and recorded 217 digs on the year. Heidemann recorded a career high 61 assists against Marshall on Nov. 9 and a career high 19 digs against James Madison on Sept. 27. In the rankings for the season as a whole, Heidemann ranked fourth in the Sun Belt in assists and ninth in aces. In conference only play, she stood second in aces (24) and third in assists (589 total, 10.33 per set). Heidemann started 16 of the 23 matches she appeared in and played 90 sets.
Leahy recorded 215 kills, averaging 2.17 kills per set. The Charlotte N.C. native also recorded a hitting percentage of .303 on the season. Additionally, she stood second on the team with 81 blocks (nine solo, 72 assists). Leahy recorded a career high 22 kills against Marshall on Nov. 9. In 10 matches this season, Leahy slammed down double-figure kills. For the season as a whole, Leahy ranked eighth in the SBC in hitting percentage. For conference only action, Leahy ranked fifth in the league in hitting percentage (.331) and ninth in blocks (54). Leahy started 24 of the 25 matches she appeared in and played in 99 sets.
The Mountaineers went 17-8 (11-3 SBC) on the regular season and posted a 10-2 SBC East Division record. App State clinched its first Sun Belt East Division title since 2018 and earned the East's No. 1 seed for the first time since the conference began divisional seeding for the tournament in 2020. The Black and Gold's conference stretch featured the program's first back-to-back victories over James Madison since the Dukes joined the Sun Belt, the first pair of wins over Coastal Carolina since the 2018 campaign, and a seven-match win-streak from Oct. 24 to Nov. 14.
App State opens play in the Sun Belt Tournament in Friday's 2:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. CT) quarterfinal match. The No. 1 seeded Mountaineers will take on the winner of Thursday's first round match between No. 4 seed Troy and No. 5 seed Georgia State.
2024 Sun Belt Volleyball Awards
Player of the Year: Tori Hester, Troy
Offensive Player of the Year: Tori Hester, Troy
Defensive Player of the Year: Daedrianna Cail, Arkansas State
Libero of the Year: Sarah Martinez, Arkansas State
Setter of the Year: Ryann Torres, Texas State
Newcomer of the Year: Daedrianna Cail, Arkansas State
Freshman of the Year: Elise Marchal, App State
Coach of the Year: Brian Gerwig, Arkansas State
First-Team All-Sun Belt
Maya Winterhoff, App State
Daedrianna Cail, Arkansas State
Sarah Martinez, Arkansas State
Jalyn Stout, Coastal Carolina
Reagan Barth, Georgia Southern
Brenya Reid, James Madison
Abryanna Cannon, South Alabama
Anna Loberg, South Alabama
Jade Defraeye, Texas State
Ryann Torres, Texas State
Smanatha Wunsch, Texas State
Tori Hester, Troy
Second-Team All-Sun Belt
Addison Heidemann, App State
Ava Leahy, App State
Elise Marchal, App State
Kaitlin Whitlock, Arkansas State
Ashlyn Lovett, Georgia Southern
Kirsten Barrett, Georgia Southern
Annie Smith, James Madison
Cami Hicks, Louisiana
Mio Yamamoto, Louisiana
Myah Conway, Old Dominion
Sarah Gooch, South Alabama
Sunni Sheppard, Southern Miss
