The 2025 Buckys 2.0

MIAMI SHORES, Fla.--The athletic department celebrated the 2025 Buckys 2.0 on Saturday, June 14, awarding the final and major awards for the 2024-25 athletic season.

The Neill L. Miller Scholar-Athletes of the Year were awarded for the 18th year, while the Athlete of the Year awards, named after long-time Barry faculty athletic representative Dr. Eileen McDonough, were named for the third time.

Professor Neill Miller Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Tereza Zavrelova, a sophomore from Drasov, Czech Republic, is another 4.0 student in international studies. She is the third winner from women's golf. Meredith Kane won in 2007 and shared the award with her sister Lauren as well as Greta Trotman from women's tennis in 2005. Zavrelova led the team with a 73.9 stroke average and posted top-10 finishes at the Mercer Invitational in the fall and Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate.

Professor Neill Miller Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Adam Lynch, a junior from Jacksonville, Fla., is the ninth winner from the men's tennis team.  He carries a 4.0 GPA in computer science. Six of other eight winners from men's tennis came from 2002 to 2008 as Eric Holubec (1), Dirk Benninghaus (3) and Patrick Rittenauer (2) won six of seven. Renato Lombardi (2016) and Daniel Ventura (2019) won the other two.

Dr. Eileen McDonough Female Athlete of the Year

Diana Akopova had another outstanding year at the net for the volleyball team in 2024, earning First-Team All-Sunshine State ConferenceSSC Player of the Year and First-Team All-America honors. She wins the award for the third straight year, becoming the first Buccaneer in history to win the award three times. 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). Akopova has also been named AVCA All-South Region First-Team, AVCA South Region Player of the Year, D2CCA All-South Region First-Team, All-Sunshine State Conference First-Team, and Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year. While in the regular season being named SSC Offensive Player of the Week six times, for a record 11-career times, and AVCA National Player of the Week once.

Dr. Eileen McDonough Male Athlete of the Year

Adam Lynch becomes just the second Buccaneer in history to win both the Athlete of the Year and the Scholar-Athlete of the Year in the same term. Michael Thorpe from men's soccer won the Athlete of the Year in 1991-92 and shared the Scholar-Athlete award with baseball's Richard Fiorenzo. Lynch led the team to both the regular season and tournament championships in the Sunshine State Conference for the first time since 2022. Despite missing the first six weeks of the spring, he led the team with 13 singles wins, posting a perfect 13-0 record. He was named Second-Team All-SSC in singles. 

Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin Service Award

Coach Petsa Ivanovic and the men's soccer team wins the Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin Service award for the second time in three years. The Bucs remained very active in the community. It is the third award for men's soccer, having won in 2022-23 and shared it with softball in 2004-05.