NEW ORLEANS | Katharina Schroll was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, while the Vienna, Austria native and fellow freshman Mercedes Aldana each earned all-conference accolades, earning first- and second-team honors, respectively, as voted on by the league's coaches and announced by the conference office on Tuesday.

Schroll becomes just the second South Alabama women's golfer to be named the SBC Freshman of the Year, joining Siti Shaari (2018).

Schroll was an instrumental piece in helping the program make a dramatic turnaround during the 2024-25 season. She averaged 72.27 strokes per round – a freshman record – and led the team with 91 birdies, competing at the No. 1 position in South's final eight events. Schroll recorded four sub-70 rounds this season, including three rounds of 68, which rank as the 10th lowest single round in program history, and was twice named Sun Belt Conference Golfer of the Week during the season.

Her two golfer of the week selections this season trail just Sharri (4), and she was named the South Alabama Athletic Department's Freshman of the Year at the annual Pete Tolbert Night of Champions.

Schroll finished the season with 14 rounds at par or under, including 12 under par, which now rank third all-time at South Alabama, and finished inside the Top 10 in eight of her 10 events this season. 

Aldana was another instrumental piece in helping the program make a dramatic turnaround. She averaged 73.30 strokes per round – the second lowest average by a freshman at South in program history. Aldana recorded 63 birdies and an eagle during the season, while posting 11 rounds at par or under, including five under par. She also finished inside the Top 20 in seven of her 10 events and also posted a pair of Top 5 finishes with a majority of her time coming at the No. 2 position where she competed in eight events.

Aldana finished seventh at her first collegiate event – the Green Wave Invitational, and tied for ninth with a one-under 212 at the 47th Annual FIU Pat Bradley Invitational during the fall. 

She recorded first tournament win at the Sea Best Intercollegiate where she fired a career-low 211, and she also posted her lowest round of the season – a 69 – at the event in the second round. Aldana birdied her final two holes of the tournament to move into medalist honors as she sunk a 10-foot put on 17 and then drained a 20-foot put on 18 to close out her round. Aldana finished the tournament with a team-best 11 birdies over her three rounds of play, and following the win, she was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week, becoming the first South Alabama women's golfer to earn the accolade since Catharina Lohoff did so on Nov. 11, 2022.

Her 10th-place finish at the Sun Belt Conference Championship marked her sixth Top 10 finish of the season.

Year two under the direction of Marcelo Huarte, saw South Alabama post the largest turnaround in the nation. After South finished with just a 1-127 record in 2023-24, the Jags posted a 93-29-1 record in 2024-2, and improved their national ranking by 171 spots from 256 a year ago to 85th this season. South Alabama finished inside the Top 5 in nine of 10 events, including four inside the Top 3. The Jaguars also posted their lowest scoring average in program history – 293.5 strokes per round – and had an individual strokes per round of 73.38; a 33.6 stroke improvement from the previous year.

2025 Sun Belt Women's Golf Awards
Golfer of the Year: Louise Reau, Georgia Southern
Freshman of the Year: Katharina Schroll, South Alabama
Newcomer of the Year: LoraLie Cowart, Georgia Southern
Coach of the Year: Mimi Burke, Georgia Southern

All-Sun Belt First Team
Louise Reau, Georgia Southern
LoraLie Cowart, Georgia Southern
Mary Miller, Georgia Southern
Yvonne Chamness, Texas State
Katharina Schroll, South Alabama
Daniela Campillo, ULM

All-Sun Belt Second Team
Anna Andrysova, ULM
Pariya Sanpanawat, Georgia State
Momoka Ando, Southern Miss
Drive Tunwannarux, Georgia Southern
Mercedes Aldana, South Alabama
Sara Sarrion, Coastal Carolina

*All Conference in order of Scoreboard rankings

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