ARLINGTON, Texas – The Western Athletic Conference announced their yearly conference awards on Wednesday afternoon and the UT Arlington volleyball team cleaned up with four major awards and five All-Conference honorees.
 
Brianna Ford was named the Player of the Year, Mollie Blank won Setter of the Year, Sjakkie Donkers was named Co-Freshman of the Year while J.T. Wegner was named the Coach of the Year. 
 
Ford, Blank and Paige Reagor were named to the All-WAC First Team while Donkers was named All-WAC Second Team along with All-WAC Freshman Team. Cansu Günaydin was a part of the Receiving Votes squad.
 
Ford is the first Maverick to be named the WAC Conference Player of the Year in program history and the first conference player of the year since 2002 (Olayo Pazo, Southland).
 
Ford becomes the program's first three-time All-WAC First Team honoree, and she's the first three-time first team all-conference selection in the program since Heather Hoy did it in the Southland Conference in 1995, 1996 and 1997. In fact, she is the fifth such player in program history to accomplish this feat. An Amarillo native, Ford led UTA to a 26-2 regular season record and a perfect 16-0 WAC mark behind career bests in kills (421), kills per set (4.39) and hitting percentage (.305). Her 4.39 kills per set leads the conference while also being the 27th best mark in the NCAA.
 
Ford also leads the conference in points per set with a 5.24 clip, which ranks her 14th in the nation. Ford is currently third all-time in program history with 1,706 kills and is 23 kills away from being tied with Ana de Oliveira for the second most in UT Arlington history, and 81 kills from the most all-time. She also was named the WAC Player of the Week on five separate occasions throughout the season. Ford joins the following group of Mavs to claim at least three first team all-conference selections: Katie Weismiller (1983, 1984, 1985, 1986), Ana de Oliveira (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988), Valeria Whitfield (1990, 1991, 1992) and Heather Hoy (1995, 1996, 1997).
 
Blank is the first setter of the year in program history and marks her first major award and first all-conference selection in her Mavs career. She ranks first in the conference in assists per set with a strong mark of 10.67, which also ranks 21st in the country. Blank currently ranks eighth in the program record book with 3,408 assists throughout her career. Blank was named Setter of the Week five different times throughout the season, and won four straight awards in a row.
 
Donkers established herself as one of the best freshmen in the conference after posting 247 kiils, the second-best mark on the team. She was also second on the team in points per set with 3.43 behind a solid .270 hitting percentage.
 
Reagor, an All-WAC Second Team performer a season ago, was named to the All-WAC First Team for the first time in her Mavs career. She averaged 3.19 kills per set while finishing the regular season with 223 kills behind a stellar .415 hitting percentage, which is the second highest in program history. Defensively, the Frisco, Texas native put together 145 blocks (1.49 per set) in a stellar year.
 
Gunaydin received votes after a solid regular season that saw her average finish with 199 total kills behind 2.63 kills per set.
 
Wegner was named the WAC's Coach of the Year for the first time in his eighth season at the helm for UTA. UTA's .929 winning percentage is the best mark in program history and the 26 wins are the most wins since 2002. Wenger also helped guide the Mavs to an ongoing seventeen-game winning streak, the longest in over 25 years.
 
2024 WAC Volleyball Postseason Awards
 
2024 WAC Player of the Year: Brianna Ford, Gr., OH, UT Arlington
2024 WAC Setter of the Year: Mollie Blank, Gr., UT Arlington
2024 WAC Libero of the Year: Amanda Darling, Gr., California Baptist
2024 WAC Co-Freshman of the Year: Sjakkie Donkers, OH, UTA; Sami Blackett, OH, UVU
2024 WAC Coach of the Year: J.T. Wenger, UT Arlington
 
2024 All-WAC First Team
Amanda Darling, Gr., L, California Baptist
Tatum Parrott, Jr., OH, Grand Canyon
Mollie Blank, Gr., S, UT Arlington
Brianna Ford, Gr., OH, UT Arlington
Paige Reagor, Gr., MB, UT Arlington
Kennedi Knudsen, Jr., OH, Utah Tech
Sami Blackett, Fr., OH, Utah Valley
Avery Shewell, Jr., OH, Utah Valley
 
2024 All-WAC Second Team
Bryley Steinhilber, Sr., OH/RS, Abilene Christian
Madison Gilliland, Gr., MB, California Baptist
Nicole Mauser, So., OPP, California Baptist
Ashley Lifgren, Gr., OH, Grand Canyon
Trista Strasser, Sr., MB, Grand Canyon
Arianna Bilby, Sr., OH/RS, Seattle U
Sjakkie Donkers, Fr., OH, UT Arlington
Evalyn Chism, So., S, Utah Valley
 
2024 WAC All-Freshman Team
Avery Thaler, MB, Abilene Christian
Aubrey Goodere, MB, Grand Canyon
Taylor Kubacak, S, Grand Canyon
Finley Charapata, OH, Southern Utah
Marlee Ervin, OH, Southern Utah
Sjakkie Donkers, OH, UT Arlington
Lusia Langi, MB, Utah Tech
Sami Blackett, OH, Utah Valley
 
Others Receiving All-WAC Votes
Mykenna Nelson, Gr., S, Grand Canyon
Anaelena Ramirez, Jr., OH, Grand Canyon
Allison Bryant, Sr., OH, Tarleton State
Cansu Gunaydin, Gr., OH, UT Arlington
Casidy Fried, Jr., MB, Utah Tech
Hannah Howard, R-Sr., OPP, Utah Tech
Bella Wooden, Jr., MB, Utah Valley
 
 
– #BuckEm –
 
FOLLOW ALONG
For the latest news on UTA Volleyball, log on to UTAMavs.com or stay connected to the Mavs on social media. Follow the Mavericks on X (formally known as Twitter) @UTAMavsVB, on Instagram @UTAMavsVB and on Facebook at Facebook.com/UTAMavsVB.