1-General | 4/29/2025 8:00:00 PM

Barry University Athletics hosted the Tenth Annual Bucky Awards on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.

The Bucs celebrated the past year's accomplishments of the student-athletes with awards for Newcomer of the Year, Most Improved Athlete, Champions In Life, Career Achievement, Best Game, and Best Play, and the Iron Buc Awards. For the first time in Buckys history, the awards were split between men and women, to acknowledge the growth of the program from 12 to 20 varsity sports. In addition, the varsity and club teams recognized their individual team award winners.

Newcomer of the Year

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	Veronika Eremeeva, Volleyball The freshman Moscow, Russia finished her freshman campaign an All-American. In her first year, she tallied 291 kills, a 3.06 set average, 49 service aces, and a 0.52 average. Eremeeva was the first Barry volleyball player to record a triple-double via kills, blocks, and digs. She has quickly jumped on the single-season record book now 11th for service aces and tied for seventh for her average. In addition to the All-America honor, Eremeeva was named the AVCA All-South Region First-Team, AVCA South Region Freshman of the Year, All-Sunshine State Conference First-Team, and Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year.
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	Yan Kodjoed, Tennis The rookie from Paris, France led the men's tennis team to the Sunshine State Conference regular season and tournament championships in the same year for the first time since 2022. The Bucs finished third at the ITA Indoor Championships. Kodjoed's 9-4 record in singles and 11-7 record in doubles is third on the team and, at #31 in singles, he is the highest ranked Buccaneer.

Most Improved Athlete

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	Becka Mellor, Softball The senior from Nokomis, Fla., is enjoying a career-season as a senior. After seeing only 11 at-bats as a junior and recording just one hit, she is one of the Bucs leaders as they have become one of the top teams in the SSC and the South Region. She is batting .300 with five of her seven career doubles, all six of her career triples and a homer. She has driven in 24 runs, after driving in just 21 in the previous three years.
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	Jaylon Sarjeant, Track The sophomore from Port of Spain, Trinidad, hit a new personal record and school record running a 10.67 in the 100-meter dash at the Sunshine State Conference Track Championship. He is the only student-athlete to run a sub-11 in the 100m, holding the top four fastest times in program history. Sarjeant hit a new personal best in the 200m at the ERAU Running Elements Classic with a time of 22.51. The Trinidad-native also claimed the top spot at the NSU Shark Invite earlier this season.

Best Individual Performance

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	#1 Pair (Fiona Baker/Ana Perez), Beach Volleyball The Bucs' top pair lead Barry to it's first-ever win by clinching a 3-2 win over St. Thomas in the opening match of the season in dominant fashion winning 21-10, 21-14 over the Bobcats.
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	Roland Nagy, Swimming The sophomore from Gyula, Hungary became the Bucs' first-ever repeat First-Team All-American, as well as picking up Second-Team awards as both an individual and part of the 800 free style relay at the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis.

Career Achievement

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	Diana Akopova, Volleyball The senior from Mozdok, Russia capped off an illustrious career at Barry with her third AVCA All-American honor, second on the First-Team (2022, 2024). It is her first time being recognized on the D2CCA list. The senior capped off her final season with a 31-kill performance that boosted her to the top of the leaderboard all-time for kills by a Buccaneer, at 1,685. She is also the top attacker in Barry history, leading in kills per set (5.33), attack attempts (4,011), and points per set (6.04).
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	Rafael Furlani, Soccer From São Paulo, Brazil, the senior was a two-time All-Sunshine State Conference selection, including earning the 2023 SSC Keeper of the Year award as he led Barry to the regular season and tournament championships in the same year for the first time. He went 18-9-3 between the pipes with a 1.04 goals against average and nine shutouts.

Best Game

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	Women's Volleyball defeats #1 Tampa on the road Barry volleyball stunned no. 1 Tampa in a road Sunshine State Conference match-up. The Buccaneers swept the previously-unbeaten Spartans 25-12, 25-16, 25-21 in the Martínez Center to hand them their first loss of the season.
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	Men's Volleyball beats Erskine in five sets to win first-ever match It was a night to remember in Miami Shores as the Barry Men's Volleyball team made their debut on home court. The Buccaneers became the first collegiate men's volleyball program to play an official match in the state of Florida when they took down Erskine College in five sets 26-24, 29-27, 14-25, 17-25, 15-13.

Best Play

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	Alia Jaidi, Soccer, Game-winning goal against Eckerd The senior from Casablanca, Morocco weaved her way through the whole of the Triton defense on her own to score the game-winning goal against Eckerd.
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	Jimel Lane, Basketball, Dunk-Block-Dunk against Tampa The junior from Miami, Fla., had a dunk at one end, blocked the Spartans on the other and finished with a fast-break dunk coming back down the court.

Iron Bucs

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	Harry Vargas Segura, Baseball Senior from Bronx, N.Y.
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	Guiliana Gomez, Golf Senior from Miami, Fla.