DALLAS – University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Volleyball garnered a plethora of postseason awards Wednesday night as the conference held its LSC Championship Tournament banquet.
Highlighting the awards was middle blocker Hannah Watkins being named the LSC Defensive Player of the Year while also being named Second Team All-LSC.
Setter Chloe Price and outside hitter Caelyn Gunn were named First Team All-LSC while libero Paola Fragalle joined Watkins on the second team. Fragalle was named to the LSC All-Academic Team, as well.
Outside hitter Nyia Anderson and right-side hitter Reagan Macha earned All-LSC Honorable Mention honors.
Watkins led the league in total blocks with 130 and was second with 1.21 blocks per set. That number jumps to 1.37 blocks per set in conference only matches. She ranks seventh nationally in total blocks and 17th in blocks per set. Watkins had 14 matches of five or more blocks including half of those with at least seven blocks. She tallied a season high nine blocks in a win at UT Permian Basin and had six solo blocks against UT Tyler.
Offensively, Watkins leads the Lions with a .323 attack percentage while averaging 1.89 kills per set. She has had five matches with 10 or more kills and had a season high 12 kills in a win at Texas A&M-Kingsville with a .435 attack percentage.
Price recently broke the program career assist record and finished second in the league with 10.09 assists per set. She led the league with 1,080 assists and was a factor all over the court for the Lions. In addition to setting up the offense, Price was third on the team with 3.26 digs per set and totaled 52 blocks. She totaled 126 kills and hit .220 on the season, as well.
Price recorded 21 double-doubles on the season, with season highs of 52 assists and 21 digs. She had at least 20 assists in every match this season with 10 matches of more than 40 and four of more than 50. She also led UAFS with 32 aces.
Gunn led the Lions with 357 kills for an average of 3.34 per set, ranking 10th in the LSC. Gunn matched her career high with 24 kills in a win at Drury and had double digit kills in 23 matches. She was second on the team with 3.37 digs per set and totaled 18 double doubles. She set a career high with 28 digs against Texas A&M International. Her second All-LSC selection, Gunn added 29 blocks and 22 aces to her resume this year.
Fragalle anchored one of the top defenses in the LSC, averaging a team-high 5.13 digs per set, which ranked 24th nationally and third in the LSC. UAFS ranked third in the nation and led the LSC with 19.14 digs per set this season. Additionally, UAFS was fourth in the league in opponent hitting percentage at .158, just .003 points behind first place DBU. Fragalle set a career-high with 29 digs at UT Tyler and had 14 matches with 20 ore more digs. She had double-digit digs in all but two matches.
Fragalle was named to the All-Academic Team as she sports a 4.0 GPA while majoring in Business Administration. She becomes just the second Lion to be named to the LSC All-Academic Team.
Anderson was second on the Lions with 3.33 kills per set this year, tallying a high of 18 kills three times. She had 13 matches with double digit kills and had seven double doubles. She had 27 digs at Angelo State. Anderson also added 49 blocks and 18 aces.
Macha earned her second All-LSC nod after racking up 246 kills, matching her career high of 19 in a win over Texas A&M International. Macha ranks fifth all-time with 910 career kills. She has had 10 matches with 10 or more kills this season.
