Sam Erger, 4 SMU players earn AVCA all-region honors

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Erger Named AVCA Southwest Region Coach Of The Year, Four Mustangs Earn Individual Honors

DALLAS (SMU) - Four SMU volleyball players and head coach Sam Erger were honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) in the All-Region Awards announced on Tuesday.

Celia Cullen and Naya Shime have been named to the AVCA Southwest All-Region First Team, and Natalie Foster and Maya Tabron have been selected as All-Region honorable mentions, totaling four player honorees, the most in a single season in program history.

Erger has been tabbed AVCA Southwest Region Coach of the Year, recognized by the association for the first time in her career. Cullen and Shime are two of only ten players in SMU history to be named to an AVCA All-Region Team.

As a graduate setter who finished her third and final season at SMU, Cullen has been a steady leader on and off the court in Coach Erger's program since arriving on campus. She averaged 9.97 assists per set and 1.87 digs per set, ranking third in the conference in assists per set and first in total assists, helping her garner All-Region First Team honors. The setter finished the season with ten matches of 40 or more assists. Cullen is an All-ACC First Team selection in the program's first season in the league. A native of Brighton, Mich., Cullen earned two ACC Setter of the Week honors. Last season, Cullen was the Setter of the Year in the American Conference and an All-AAC and AVCA All-Region honorable mention selection.

Shime has also been voted to the AVCA Southwest Region team as an opposite hitter. She also earned All-ACC First Team accolades last week. The Casper, Wyoming native, Shime, ranked first on the Mustangs in kills with 3.44 per set on .283 hitting and added 1.72 digs per set and 1.02 blocks per set. Shime was the first Mustang taken off the board a few weeks ago in the 2024 Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) draft by the Grand Rapids Rise. She collected double-digit kills in 25 of the Mustangs' 33 matches this season, which led the team.

Foster earned her third AVCA All-Region honor in her collegiate career as the Mattawan, Michigan native was an All-Region selection twice at Wichita State. The standout middle blocker is an All-ACC Second Team performer who averaged 1.71 kills per set, on .360 hitting, 1.04 blocks per set, and a team-best .54 aces per set. Foster broke the program's single-season record and finished the season top-10 in the nation in both aces per set and total aces. Her 64 aces were more than she had in any of her previous four seasons combined. Two weeks ago, she was the second Mustang selected in the PVF draft, going to the Orlando Valkyries as the No. 14 overall pick.

Tabron earned her first All-Region accolade, earning an honorable mention in her only season at SMU. The graduate outside hitter from Gilroy, California, ranked second on the team in kills with 3.03 per set while adding a team-best 2.60 digs per set in her final collegiate season. Tabron led the Ponies with 13 double-doubles and 17 matches with double-digit digs in 2024. She also had 21 matches with ten or more kills and was second on the team in service aces with 34, the most of any season in her five-year collegiate career. Tabron joined Foster on the All-ACC Second Team list and was also drafted in the PVF draft this season, selected by the San Diego Mojo at No. 23 overall.

Erger was voted AVCA Southwest Region Coach of the Year after leading the program in its first season in the power-four to being a two-seed and the No. 8 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and a host site for the opening two rounds for the first time in program history. The Mustangs finished the regular season 24-7, finishing fourth in the ACC with a 16-4 conference record. Erger led the Mustangs to the program's fourth NCAA Tournament appearance, for the second-consecutive season, and an opening round win, sweeping Wichita State at Moody Coliseum. Erger's Mustangs defeated seven ranked teams in 2024, including No. 1 Pitt, their only loss of the season so far, and No. 2 Nebraska.