NEW ORLEANS – University of South Alabama volleyball middle blocker Rebecca Walk was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and second-team all-SBC, as announced Tuesday by the league office.
Walk is just the second Jaguar in the program's history to earn SBC Freshman of the Year, and the first since Mechell Daniel received the honor in 2013. Walk's selection to the second-team all-conference squad marks the eighth straight season South Alabama has placed a student-athlete on the all-conference team.
Walk led the Sun Belt Conference in hitting percentage (.377) this season after recording 153 kills with 38 errors in 305 total attempts. She appeared in all 22 matches with 13 starts, and finished with 153 kills, along with six assists, five service aces, 46 digs and 55 total blocks with seven solo.
In 16 Sun Belt matches, Walk posted 132 kills and a .395 hitting percentage while also recording six assists, five service aces, 40 digs and 53 total blocks with seven solo.
Walk tallied four matches with double-digit kill totals, including a career-high 21, along with a .500 hitting percentage, against Troy on Oct. 2 in Mobile, Alabama. The Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, native finished with a career-high eighth total blocks in the series finale at Georgia State on Nov. 6 in Atlanta.
Coastal Carolina's Anett Nemeth was named the SBC Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year. UTA's Alli Wells was voted the Defensive Player of the Year, while Texas State's Emily DeWalt was named the Setter of the Year. The Newcomer of the Year went to Little Rock's Leigh Maher, and Coach of the Year was Coastal Carolina's Jozsef Forman.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with USAJaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at Twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Rally Score Club, the volleyball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. All donations to the Rally Score Club go directly to support the South Alabama volleyball program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/rallyscoreclub.
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2020 SUN BELT VOLLEYBALL POSTSEASON HONORS
All-Sun Belt First Team
Laura Jansen, Little Rock
Madison Brown, Arkansas State
Ani Bozdeva, Coastal Carolina
Anett Nemeth, Coastal Carolina
Brigitta Petrenko, Coastal Carolina
Avery Breaux, Louisiana
Hali Wisnoskie, Louisiana
Alli Wells, UTA
Emily DeWalt, Texas State
Janell Fitzgerald, Texas State
Tyeranee Scott, Texas State
Amara Anderson, Troy
All-Sun Belt Second Team
Leigh Maher, Little Rock
Kendahl Davenport, Arkansas State
Lina Perugini, Coastal Carolina
Mya Wilson, Georgia Southern
Kara Barnes, Louisiana
Kelsey Bennett, Louisiana
Rebecca Walk, South Alabama
Briana Brown, UTA
Brianna Ford, UTA
Brooke Townsend, UTA
Lauren Teske, Texas State
Cheyenne Hayes, Troy
Player of the Year
Anett Nemeth, Coastal Carolina
Offensive Player of the Year
Anett Nemeth, Coastal Carolina
Defensive Player of the Year
Alli Wells, UTA
Setter of the Year
Emily DeWalt, Texas State
Freshman of the Year
Rebecca Walk, South Alabama
Newcomer of the Year
Leigh Maher, Little Rock
Coach of the Year
Jozsef Forman, Coastal Carolina
