IRVING, Texas, November 21, 2024 – For the first time in her career, head volleyball coach Jolene Shepardson has been named the American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, while Maria Clara Andrade earned AAC Player of the Year and Caroline Dykes was named the AAC Setter of the Year, the league announced on Thursday.
 
Senior Naiya Sawtelle was named First Team All-Conference and sophomore Lia Schneider was tabbed Second Team All-Conference.
 
For South Florida, this is the first Player of the Year honor since Erin Fairs in 2013. The last Coach of the Year and Setter of the Year honor for the Bulls was in 2002 when head coach Nancy Mueller and Ale Domingos earned the titles.
 
Shepardson took over the South Florida volleyball program in 2020. She has completed one of the best turnarounds in program history, taking a team that won one conference match in 2021 to the regular-season title in 2024. Shepardson was a senior on the USF volleyball team the last time the Bulls won a conference championship in 2002.
 
Andrade, who earned her first Player of the Year honor, paced the South Florida offense. She led the American in kills (281), kills per set (4.68), points (314), and points per set (5.23) in conference play. Andrade has recorded double-digit kills in the last 21 matches and 20+ kills in four matches. Earlier this season, she surpassed the 1,000-kill mark in her career.
 
Dykes was previously named the 2022 Southern Conference Setter of the Year prior to joining the Bulls. As the Bulls' playmaker, Dykes paced the American with 659 assists, averaging 10.98 per set. She became the 16th active DI setter to surpass the 4,000-assist mark. She also surpassed the 100 aces and 1,000 dig career milestones. For the second straight season, Dykes has recorded over 1,000 assists. She currently has 1,078 going into the conference tournament.
 
In just one season with South Florida, Sawtelle has made her mark, ranking second on the team in kills with 314 and points with 336. In the conference, she ranks third with an average of 3.89 per set. Sawtelle is currently on a 13-match double-digit kill streak. In the Bulls' win over Wichita State, she set a season-high of 20 kills. In conference play, she has 229.5 points which ranks fifth. In the Bulls' win over North Texas, she surpassed the 100 aces mark. Sawtelle is 38th in active DI hitters with 1,521 kills.
 
Schneider earned her first All-Conference honor after missing most of her freshman season due to injury. So far in the season, she averages 4.20 digs per set with 424. In conference play, Schneider averaged 4.48 digs per set, putting her second in the conference. Behind the service line, she served 24 aces in conference play, ranking fifth in the American.
 
UP NEXT
The No. 1-seeded South Florida Bulls head to the American Conference Tournament for a rematch against the No. 8-seeded UAB Blazers on Friday, November 22, in Wichita, Kan. The first serve is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
 
About USF Volleyball
Head coach Jolene Shepardson enters her fifth season at the helm of her alma mater in 2024. Named head coach on Jan. 8, 2020, Shepardson led the Bulls to a conference championship and the program's last NCAA tournament appearance as a student-athlete in 2002. South Florida won the AAC East Division title in 2023, made a postseason appearance in the NIVC, won three matches, and advanced to the Fab Four to mark the longest postseason run in program history. South Florida Volleyball has made seven NCAA Tournament appearances and won 12 conference titles since its inception in 1972. The Bulls play in The Corral (1,000), located adjacent to the Yuengling Center on the USF campus in Tampa.
 
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