The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) has announced its 2022 Volleyball Scholar-Athletes of the Year and All-ACC Academic Team, with Louisville’s Amaya Tillman and Pitt’s Serena Gray being named the Scholar-Athletes of the Year for the second consecutive year.
Amaya Tillman, a graduate student at Louisville, earned her Master of Education in Counseling and Personnel Services (M.Ed. CSP) while also being named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Third-Team All-American. She led Louisville to their second consecutive ACC Championship, two back-to-back NCAA Semifinal appearances and first ever appearance in the NCAA Championship in program history. Her 1.46 blocks per set and 166 total blocks led both the ACC and Louisville and ranked 12th nationally.
Serena Gray, who hails from Temple City, California, led Pitt to their fourth ACC Championship and repeat appearance in the NCAA Semifinals. She was named First-Team All-ACC, an AVCA East Coast All-Region selection and a VolleyballMag.com Fourth-Team All-American. Gray was also one of two Pitt players to earn CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-America honors, while leading the Panthers to an 18-game winning streak – the longest in program history.
The All-ACC Academic Team features 21 student-athletes who earned All-ACC honors this season, with Pitt leading the conference with 13 student-athletes followed by Virginia with 12, Boston College with 11 and Duke, Louisville, Notre Dame and Virginia Tech with 10. Syracuse’s Polina Shemanova, Louisville’s Aiko Jones and Florida State’s Emma Clothier were named to the All-ACC Academic Team for the fourth and fifth time in their careers, respectively.
The ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, established in 2007, is awarded to the top junior or senior student-athlete who has maintained a 3.0-grade point average for their careers and the last two semesters. The All-ACC Academic Team requires a minimum 3.0-grade point average for the previous semester and a cumulative 3.0 average, and participation in at least 50% of their team’s contests.
Tillman and Gray are both deserving recipients of this recognition and serve as shining examples of the true definition of student-athletes. Their achievements on the court and in the classroom are truly inspiring.
More about Amaya Tillman:
Amaya won the Elite 90 Award, an award that recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has achieved the highest athletic and academic standard. She was named an AVCA Third-Team All-American honoree and an AVCA East Regional First-Team honoree. The ACC Defensive Player of the Year led the ACC in blocks with 166 blocks and played in 114 sets. She notched 244 kills hitting .333, 19 aces, and 43 blocks to earn 357.0 points for the Cardinals. An offensive threat as deadly as she is on defense, she recorded 11 double-double kill matches. She was also efficient, with 11 matches hitting over .500: (.643 vs. NKU 10-1-14), (.545 vs. Missouri 6-0-11), (.600 vs. Purdue 10-1-15), (.500 vs. Miami 7-1-12), (.579 vs. Boston College 11-0-19), (.526 vs. Virginia Tech 11-1-19), (.545 vs. UNC 7-1-11), (.556 vs. Pitt 6-1-9), (.500 vs. Notre Dame 11-1-20), (.625 vs. Samford 6-1-8), (.600 vs. Purdue 11-2-15).
2022 ACC Volleyball Scholar-Athletes of the Year
Amaya Tillman****, Louisville, MB, Sport Administration
Serena Gray**, Pitt, MB, Applied Developmental Psychology
Louisville All-ACC Academic Selections
Ayden Bartlett, Louisville, Sustainability
Cara Cresse, Louisville, Undecided
Anna DeBeer***, Louisville, Exercise Science
Alexa Hendricks, Louisville, L/DS, Exercise Science
Aiko Jones****, Louisville, MS Communications
Raquel Lazaro, Louisville, S, MS Sport Administration
Nena Mbonu, Louisville, Business
Cecillia Rush, Louisville, Biology
Elena Scott**, Louisville, S, Undecided
Amaya Tillman, Louisville, MB, M. Ed CSP
