Rock Hill, S.C.----For the second straight year, Wingate University middle blocker Sydney Morland has been named the South Atlantic Conference volleyball Player of the Year, league officials announced Thursday morning when the SAC volleyball regular season award winners were announced. Morland is a first team All-SAC selection, along with Emily Johnson, Maddie Hoffman and Maya Van Heyst. Gabby Saye is a second team all-conference honoree, with Rylee Tanner earning a spot on the All-Freshman Team. Lauren Tekavec has been named the SAC Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

Morland gives Wingate 15 SAC Player of the Year awards, the most in league history. Wingate has had the winner in 13 of the last 16 seasons. She is the second two-time winner for the 'Dogs in the last five years, with Shannon Kasprak earning the honor in 2021 and 2022, while Maggie Young took home the hardware in 2023. Before Morland, the last Bulldog to go back-to-back was Anna Hilton in 2012 and 2013. Stormi Gale won the honor in 2009 and 2010. Gale and Hilton are both members of the Wingate University Hall of Fame.

Morland has had a historic season for the SAC champs. She is the only player in all of NCAA Division I or II volleyball that is averaging over three kills per set while hitting over .400. She is also the active career leader in D2 volleyball with her .403 career hitting percentage. Morland is averaging 3.47 kills per set while hitting .424 on the year, adding 1.01 blocks per set. She leads the SAC in hitting percentage, ranking second in kills per set and third in blocks per set. Morland ranks fifth in the nation in hitting percentage. The .424 hitting percentage breaks her own single-season SAC record set last year at .423. Morland has earned SAC Player of the Week honors twice this year. She has piled up 267 kills against just 38 errors in 540 swings this year.

Morland has registered double-digit kills 13 times this year, hitting over .360 in 11 of those contests. She has hit over .500 in six of those matches. Morland hit .372 with 18 kills against Lewis, while piling up 19 kills in 28 swings against Francis Marion to hit .643. She hit .382 with 16 kills at Catawba, while hitting .600 with 12 kills against Tusculum. Morland hit .529 with nine kills and no errors against Carson-Newman, while piling up 15 kills in 26 swings against LMU to hit .538. She hit .632 with 13 kills against Emory & Henry and piled up 15 kills with a .394 hitting percentage against Anderson. Morland hit .632 with 12 kills and no errors in the sweep at Anderson, while piling up 15 kills without an error in 21 swings against Coker in the SAC quarters, hitting .714.

Johnson is an All-SAC honoree for the fourth straight season, earning first team accolades for the third time. A three-time All-Region selection and three-time AVCA honorable mention All-American, Johnson was named the 2022 AVCA Region Freshman of the Year, earning D2CCA second team All-American accolades. Johnson ranks fifth in all of D2 volleyball with her .362 career hitting percentage. The senior averages 2.60 kills and 0.88 blocks per set, adding 71 digs and 32 aces. Johnson is third in the SAC in hitting percentage, eighth in aces and 10th in blocks. She ranks 18th nationally in hitting percentage. Johnson has 18 matches with seven or more kills, while hitting .333 or better 14 times this year. She had seven kills and seven blocks against Francis Marion, while hitting .538 with seven kills against Eckerd. Johnson had eight kills, five blocks, four digs and two aces against Catawba, while hitting .375 with 13 kills and three blocks against UVA Wise. Johnson hit .765 with 13 kills, three blocks and three aces in the Emory & Henry sweep. She hit .346 with 11 kills and five digs at Mars Hill, followed by notching seven kills and four blocks at Coker, hitting .500. Johnson hit .619 with 13 kills against Newberry, followed by a 15-kill effort at Tusculum, hitting .652.

Van Heyst earns first team All-SAC honors for the second straight season. An All-Region honoree in 2024, Van Heyst earned AVCA third team All-American accolades last year. She earned SAC Player of the Week accolades three times this year. The junior leads the SAC and ranks 17th in the nation with 10.8 assists per set, adding 2.93 digs per set to go along with 143 kills, 31 aces and 29 blocks. She runs a WU offense that ranks fourth in the nation in assists per set and kills per set and ninth in hitting percentage. She has also helped the 'Dogs rank fifth nationally in digs per set and opponents' hitting percentage. Van Heyst has piled up 14 double-doubles on the year, while coming within one kill of a triple-double on four occasions, and coming up two digs shy of a triple-double once. She had 36 assists, 16 digs and nine kills against Lewis, while piling up 44 assists in the FMU sweep. Van Heyst had 31 assists, 12 digs, six kills and three aces in the Eckerd sweep, while piling up 36 assists, 16 digs and four kills in the UNCP sweep. She followed with 37 assists, 12 digs and five kills at Catawba while piling up 32 assists, 14 digs and nine kills at Carson-Newman. Van Heyst had 41 assists, 13 digs, nine kills and two blocks against LMU, while piling up 53 assists, 10 digs, eight kills and five aces against Anderson. Van Heyst notched 39 assists, 10 kills, eight digs and two aces against Newberry, followed by a 39-assist, 12-dig, five-kill and two-block effort at Tusculum. She compiled 35 assists, nine kills, six digs and a block against Coker in the SAC Tourney quarterfinals.

Hoffman is an All-SAC selection for the second straight year, earning first team honors for the first time in her career. She was an All-Region and AVCA honorable mention All-American in 2024. Hoffman leads the SAC and ranks 26th in the nation with 0.52 aces per set, while ranking second in the SAC and 22nd nationally with 5.26 digs per set. She also leads all liberos in the conference with 127 assists. Hoffman anchors a WU defense that ranks fifth in the nation in digs per set and opponents' hitting percentage. She has earned four SAC Defensive Player of the Week honors this year. Hoffman has piled up double-digit digs in 25 of 27 matches. She had 22 digs in the season-opening sweep, while picking up 24 digs against Lewis and 21 in the Aiken sweep. Hoffman piled up 22 digs, seven assists and three aces against LMU, followed by a 20-dig effort against Lenoir-Rhyne and 21-dig performance in the UVA Wise sweep. She had 20 digs, five assists and two aces in the Catawba sweep, while piling up 25 digs and six assists against Anderson. Hoffman had 19 digs, three assists and five aces against Coker, while piling up 10 digs, seven aces and six assists against Carson-Newman. She had 15 digs, five assists and three aces at Newberry, followed by her 33-dig performance in the Tusculum sweep, adding eight assists.

Saye is an All-SAC honoree for the third straight year. She has also been an AVCA All-Region selection and has earned AVCA honorable mention All-American accolades each of the last two years. The senior is second on the team with her 2.65 kills per set, hitting .353 on the year while adding 58 blocks and 56 digs. Saye ranks fourth in the conference in hitting percentage. Her career .331 hitting percentage is good for 20th among all active D2 players. She went over 1,000 career kills earlier this season. She has seven matches with at least 10 kills this year, while notching at least eight kills 19 times. Saye hit .478 with 12 kills in the season opener, while hitting .478 with 13 kills at UNCP. She hit .571 and .529 in back-to-back sweeps against Tusculum and Coker, notching nine kills in each match. Saye hit .526 with 10 kills and six blocks against Catawba, while hitting .500 with 13 kills and three blocks against Emory & Henry. She hit .409 with 10 kills in the Anderson victory, while hitting .345 with 12 kills and five blocks at Tusculum. Saye had 10 kills with a .381 hitting percentage in the sweep at Anderson, while collecting eight kills in the SAC Tourney quarterfinal win over Coker, hitting .375.

Tanner has played in 26 of 27 matches for the SAC champs as a freshman, playing in 81 of 87 sets. She has played a key role in one of the nation's top defenses, while also contributing as an outside hitter at times throughout the year. Tanner has collected 109 kills, good for 1.53 kills per set while ranking third on the squad with 3.11 digs per set. She ranks third on the team with her 31 aces, while also registering 16 blocks. Tanner hit .500 with five kills and 11 digs against Virginia State, adding three aces. She had six kills and 17 digs against Lenoir-Rhyne, hitting .294. Tanner followed with back-to-back double-doubles, going for 10 kills and 11 digs against LMU and 10 kills and 14 digs at Lenoir-Rhyne. She had eight kills and 15 digs against UVA Wise, while notching 13 digs, three kills and three aces against Emory & Henry. Tanner compiled 11 kills and nine digs at Emory & Henry, hitting .667, which she followed by notching 11 kills, 22 digs, two blocks and two aces against Anderson. She had eight kills and six digs at Coker, hitting .429.

Tekavec is the SAC Coach of the Year for the second time in her three-year head coaching career. The 2024 SAC and Region Coach of the Year has guided the Bulldogs to a 26-1 overall record, going 18-0 in league play to capture the 19th regular season title in the last 20 years. The Bulldogs enter postseason play riding a 25-match winning streak. It is the first undefeated SAC season for the Bulldogs, or any SAC team in the conference since 2013. Tekavec's Bulldogs rank second in the nation in winning percentage, fourth in kills per set and assists per set, fifth in digs per set and opponents' hitting percentage and ninth in hitting percentage.

Wingate is back in action Friday, taking on Carson-Newman in the SAC Tournament semifinals at 4:30 p.m. in Rock Hill, S.C. The winner advances to Saturday's SAC title match in Rock Hill. The Bulldogs have won 14 of the last 19 SAC Tourney championships, including last year.

First Team
Emerson Ahsmuhs, Carson-Newman
Kayli Cleaver, Lenoir-Rhyne
Maddie Hoffman, Wingate (L)
Maddie Hurst, Carson-Newman
Emily Johnson, Wingate
Sydney Morland, Wingate
Ellie Nieporte, Anderson
Maya Van Heyst, Wingate

Second Team
Emmaleigh Allen, Lenoir-Rhyne
Emily Campbell, Anderson
Blair Cherry, Carson-Newman
Averie Dale, Lenoir-Rhyne
Mia Elder, Anderson
Laela Jimenez, Mars Hill (L)
Ava Reeves, Anderson
Gabby Saye, Wingate

Third Team
Morgan Blankenship, UVA Wise
Annie Dziczkowski, Carson-Newman
Carole Ann Hussey, Newberry
Kaytlin Johnson, Lincoln Memorial
Maura Kindel, Anderson
Emmie Modlin, Lenoir-Rhyne
Ioana Poenaru, Mars Hill
Hadley Prince, Lenoir-Rhyne (L)

All-Freshman
Mikaylah Hedlund, Anderson
Jamie Juhnevicz, Anderson
Rylee Tanner, Wingate
Kaytlin Johnson, Lincoln Memorial
Mable James, UVA Wise
Addie Bittner, Coker
 
Player of the Year | Sydney Morland, Wingate
Freshman of the Year | Mikaylah Hedlund, Anderson
Coach of the Year | Lauren Tekavec, Wingate