Written for the LSWA
SOUTHEASTERN'S NEWSOME, WHITE CLAIM TOP HONORS ON LSWA VOLLEYBALL TEAM
LAFAYETTE – Coming off the school's first-ever trip to the NCAA Championships, the Southeastern Louisiana tandem of Kailin Newsome and Jeremy White claimed two of the top honors on the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA) Women's College Volleyball team, released by the organization on Wednesday.
Members on the 21-player team were nominated and selected by the state's volleyball athletics communications directors.
Newsome, a first-team Southland Conference selection and the league's Freshman of the Year during the COVID 2021 season, helped lead the Lady Lions to a 25-8 record in her return to the team after spending the fall 2021 season at Wichita State.
The Houston, Texas native recorded 454 kills in 31 matches on the season while posting a .248 attack percentage at the net and averaging nearly 3.0 digs per set. Newsome earned first-team All-SLC honors for the second time as a Lady Lion and was an AVCA All-Region pick in 2022.
White, in his fourth season at the helm of the SLU program, led the Lady Lions to their most wins on the court since winning a school-record 28 matches under Roni Armeda Hipp in 1996. Southeastern's 13 wins in Southland Conference play marked the first time the program won 10-plus league matches since 2002 and equaled its most SLC victories since 2001.
The Lady Lions were undefeated in both home (13-0) and neutral site (7-0) matches under White during the 2022 campaign. SLU won a match in the SLC Tournament for the first time, won the SLC Tournament title for the first time, and advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history.
Three Southland Conference schools – SLU, McNeese and Northwestern State – claimed four of the five specialty awards on the All-Louisiana team with Northwestern State's Reaghan Thompson (Freshman of the Year) and Bailey Tillman of McNeese (Libero of the Year). Loyola of New Orleans' Amaya Bazemore was tabbed as the state's Newcomer of the Year.
Thompson averaged 2.05 kills per set and hit .340 at the net as a middle blocker to claim honors as the state's top freshman. The Kemah, Texas native finished as the SLC leader in blocks (148) and blocks per set (1.12) and was the first NSU freshman to record 100 or more blocks in a season. Thompson earned second-team All-SLC honors after posting the second-most blocks in school history and became the third player to ever record a kill-block, double-double.
Tillman, a sophomore, led the league and was sixth nationally with 4.90 digs per set while garnering second-team All-SLC and AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region honors – the first-ever regional honor by a McNeese player. The Sugar Land, Texas native was credited with 10 or more digs in 28 of 32 matches on the season with a career-high 32 coming against Tulsa.
Bazemore transferred into the Loyola program from Pensacola State College (Fla.) and made an immediate impact for the Wolf Pack. The Panama City, Florida native hit .323 on the season – the fourth-highest mark in Loyola history – while leading the team in blocks (116). Bazemore tallied 2.16 kills, 1.38 digs and 2.83 points per set as a middle blocker for the Wolf Pack.
Newsome, Thompson and Tillman earned spots on the seven-member first team and were joined by the LSU tandem of Anita Anwusi and Sanaa Dotson. Kendall Glueck of McNeese and Xavier's Kennedy Wade were also named to the first team.
Bazemore was a second-team selection and was joined by teammate Emily Sheperis. Rounding out the second team was the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns tandem of Coco Gillett and Cami Hicks, Cicily Hidalgo of SLU, Sanni Rantanen of McNeese and ULM's Madeline Williams.
Sophia Ewalefo and Sheilah Purcell of New Orleans were among a group of seven players named to the Honorable Mention team. They were joined by Kara Barnes (Louisiana), Codi Fillmore (Dillard), Kayla Kaiser (Tulane), Jaycie Proctor (Centenary College) and Ashlyn Svoboda (Northwestern State).
Proctor finished her career as one of the top players in the division III era (2011-present), finishing with 1,112 digs, fourth-most in the D3 era, her 558 this season are the second-most in a single season in the D3 era, and she is also the career leader in digs per set (4.56).
Proctor ranked second in the conference in digs and in the top 35 in the country in all of D3. Proctor was one of just 13 SCAC student-athletes to be named to the prestigious team and is the first volleyball player in Centenary history to earn the honor. She also earned a spot on the College Sports Communicators All‐District® Women's Volleyball Team this past spring. Proctor is the first Centenary volleyball player to earn All-Louisiana honors since Marissa Sandoval in 2019 when she was named Libero of the Year and earned First-Team honors. Desiree Frey garnered Second Team honors in 2018 as Proctor, Sandoval, and Frey are the only three to make the team in the D3-era.
For more information on the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, visit the official website at www.lswa.info.
2022 LOUISIANA SPORTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION WOMEN'S COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL TEAM
PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Kailin Newsome, Southeastern
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR – Reaghan Thompson, Northwestern State
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR – Amaya Bazemore, Loyola
LIBERO OF THE YEAR – Bailey Tillman, McNeese
COACH OF THE YEAR – Jeremy White, Southeastern
FIRST TEAM
Anita Anwusi, LSU – Sr., Missouri City, Texas – AVCA South All-Region Honorable Mention
Sanaa Dotson, LSU – Sr., Houston, Texas – 2022 AVCA South All-Region Selection
Kendall Glueck, McNeese – Sr., Tomball, Texas – First-Team All-Southland Conference
Kailin Newsome, Southeastern – Jr., Houston, Texas – AVCA All-South Region Team; First Team All-SLC
Reaghan Thompson, Northwestern State – Fr., Kemah, Texas – Second-Team All-SLC
Bailey Tillman, McNeese – So. Sugar Land, Texas - All-SLC Second Team, HM AVCA All-Region
Kennedy Wade, Xavier – Jr., Gainesville, Fla. - AVCA NAIA All-America (third team)
SECOND TEAM
Amaya Bazemore, Loyola – Jr., Panama City, Fla. – SSAC All-Conference First Team
Coco Gillett, Louisiana – So., Bryan, Texas – Team leader in kills and digs
Cami Hicks, Louisiana – So., Carthage, Texas – 2022 All-Sun Belt Second Team
Cicily Hidalgo, Southeastern – So., Opelousas, La. – Second Team All-Southland Conference
Sanni Rantanen, McNeese – Fr., Tampere, Finland – SLC Freshman of the Year, All-SLC Second Team
Emily Sheperis, Loyola – Jr., Yulee, Fla. – SSAC All-Conference First Team
Madeline Williams, ULM – Gr., St. Louis, Mo. – Battle for the Boot All-Tournament Team
Honorable Mention
Kara Barnes, Louisiana; Sophia Ewalefo, New Orleans; Codi Fillmore, Dillard; Kayla Kaiser, Tulane; Jaycie Proctor, Centenary College; Sheilah Purcell, New Orleans; Ashlyn Svoboda, Northwestern State.
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