Women's Volleyball | 11/23/2022 10:45:00 PM
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Barry University women's volleyball prepares for its trip to Seattle, Washington, to join seven other schools in the NCAA Division II Women's Volleyball Championships as part of the Championships Festival, and learns that four Buccaneer members (head coach Leonid Yelin, and players Diana Akopova, Marija Borcic, Djuly Schmorantz) received all-region accolades from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) as announced on Wednesday.
The Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Coach of the Year, Leonid Yelin, and Player of the Year, Diana Akopova, repeat their honors and earn the same recognition for the AVCA South Region.
It has been a triumphant return to Barry for Yelin. In his first season back at the school where we also coached from 1991-95 and won a national championship in his final year, the Buccaneers are 28-5 and advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament by sweeping defending national champ Tampa last weekend in the South Regional final.
Akopova, in her first season as a Buccaneer, earned AVCA National Player of the Week on two occasions (Oct. 11 and Nov. 9). She became the sixth Barry player to be named National Player of the Week, and the first to get the award more than once. The outside hitter from Mozdok, Russia, leads the nation in kills (634), kills per set (5.66), points (710.5), and points per game (6.34). Those numbers all increased after Akopova dominated in the NCAA Division II South Region Championships to lead Barry to Seattle, totalling 95 kills in 13 sets (7.31), and amassing 104 points (8.00), with 30 or more points each match. Akopova earned 41 of her team's 66 points in comeback victory over Nova Southeastern, including saving match point against the Sharks.
With a four-year Division I background, Borcic adds to her résumé with the honor as one of the region's top setters in Division II. A graduate transfer from Coastal Carolina where she earned her bachelor's in business management, Borcic had her season-high in assists (64) against Tampa at home (11/4/22) and season-high in digs (14) at Tampa last Sunday as the Buccaneers captured the NCAA Division II South Region championship to advance to the Elite Eight. She also leads the team in service aces (43). Borcic has 1,216 assists on the season and passed the 3,000 milestone earlier in the season. She earned First Team All-SSC honors.
Schmorantz makes it back-to-back years with all-region recognition. A two-time All-SSC performer, she also led the team and was second in the conference with 3.81 kills per set (339 total) as a junior. She upped her hitting percentage (from 0.224 to 0.232) and digs per set (from 3.04 to 3.25) from a year ago, and has more than doubled her block totals from 2021 (27 in 2022). A leader on the squad, Schmorantz earned Honorable Mention All-America last season.
The three Buccaneers earned all-tournament honors at the South Region last week.
The Buccaneers earned the No. 2 seed among the final eight teams at the upcoming national championships in Seattle.
