GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University women's volleyball team hauled in major regional honors with the announcement of the Southeast Region Awards by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA).
Junior outside hitter Emiah Burrowes was named the D2CCA Southeast Region Player of the Year while Danielle Marante was tabbed the AVCA Southeast Region Coach of the Year. Burrowes was a consensus All-Region selection, while libero Carly Sosnowski garnered AVCA All-Region accolades.
Marante, who is in her third season with the Pioneers, becomes the first AVCA Region Coach of the Year in program history. She has led TU to a sterling 20-5 record and captured the school's first South Atlantic Conference volleyball championship. She also guided the Pioneers to the program's sixth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2013 while also being named SAC Coach of the Year.
Burrowes led the Pioneers averaging 3.26 kills per set (5th in SAC) and earns All-Region honors for a second time in her career. The Wesley Chapel, North Carolina product was a 2019 AVCA All-Region first team choice and was the AVCA Region Freshman of the Year. She has a .261 hitting percentage this season while averaging 2.24 digs per set. The 2021 SAC Player of the Year has amassed 18 service aces and 28 blocks while leading the team with her 336.5 total points.
Burrowes has accounted for nine double-doubles this year including a season-best 23 kills with 13 digs in a five-set win over NCAA Tournament participant Mars Hill. In her 25 starts, she has recorded double-digit kills on 17 occasions.
In her 58-match career, she is averaging 3.25 kills per set which is the third-best average in school history.
Sosnowski, a graduate student from Oxford, Florida, is averaging a team-best 5.09 digs per set, which is fourth in the league and 46th in the nation. The 2021 All-SAC honoree posted double-digit digs in 24 of her 25 matches including a string of 18 in a row.
She has 13 matches with 20 or more digs including a career-high 31 on two occasions. The first 31-dig outing came in a 3-1 win over Queens and repeated that effort in the SAC semifinal against eventual SAC Tournament champion Lenoir-Rhyne. In the SAC postseason, she averaged 6.14 digs per set and earned a spot on the SAC All-Tournament Team.
Sosnowski became the 10th player in program history with 1,000 digs as a Pioneer during TU's SAC quarterfinal victory over Catawba. Her 1,040 digs at Tusculum are the 10th most in school history, while her 4.86 career average is third in the TU record book. Including her rookie season at Florida International, Sosnowski has accumulated 1,150 digs her collegiate career.
The Pioneers are the No. 3 seed in this week's NCAA II Southeast Regional in Anderson, South Carolina. TU will face No. 6 seed Augusta on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The winner of that match will advance to Friday's semifinal with the championship being contested on Saturday.
D2CCA All-Southeast Region Volleyball Team
First Team
OH – Emiah Burrowes, Tusculum
OH – Alie Smith, USC Aiken
OH – Taylor Pratt, Lenoir-Rhyne
MB – Sophie Schaff, Wingate
MB – Logan Garcia, Flagler
S – Madison Roy, Anderson
L – Kari Mercer, USC Aiken
Second Team
OH – Natasha Bannister, Newberry
OH – Regan Duty, Anderson
OH – Kyle Martin, Augusta
OH – Abiggail Durham, North Greenville
MB – Brianna Warren, UNC Pembroke
MB – Maggie Young, Wingate
S – Shannon Kasprak, Wingate
L – Ully Martins, Mars Hill
D2CCA Southeast Region Player of the Year: Emiah Burrowes, Tusculum
AVCA All-Southeast Region Team
MH - Choloe Allen, Augusta
OH/MB - Natasha Bannister, Newberry
L - Rachel Bewick, Lenoir-Rhyne,
OH - Emiah Burrowes, Tusculum
RS - Regan Duty, Anderson
S - Shannon Kasprak, Wingate
MB – Noelle Knutsen, Anderson
S – Kennedy Muff, Flagler
OH – Taylor Prall, Lenoir-Rhyne
S – Madison Roy, Anderson
MB – Sophie Schaff, Wingate
OH – Alie Smith, USC Aiken
L – Carly Sosnowski, Tusculum
OH – Julia Wheeler, Carson-Newman
Honorable Mention
OH – Jordan Berglin, Flagler
RS – Josie Curran, Limestone
MH – Logan Garcia, Flagler
DS – Ully Martins, Mars Hill
MB – Maggie Young, Wingate
AVCA Southeast Coach of the Year: Danielle Marante, Tusculum
AVCA Southeast Region Player of the Year: Taylor Prall, Lenoir-Rhyne
AVCA Southeast Region Freshman of the Year: Jordan Berglin, Flagler
