NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Talladega College women's volleyball team was honored by the HBCUAC in awards following the 2024 campaign.  Briyith Echeverri was named the conference Defender of the Year while teammate Giovana Costarelli was honored as Setter of the Year.

Assistant Coach Kyle Liechti took home Assistant Coach of the Year. His guidance this season helped Head Coach LaShaunda Spurgeon and the Tornadoes to their second straight regular-season conference title and the automatic berth to the NAIA Volleyball Tournament while earning the number one seed in the conference tournament.

The Tornadoes had four players on the All-HBCUAC first team and three on the second team. Franchesca Rivas, Re'na Ashley, Echeverri, and Costarelli were named to the first team, while Kortni Johnson, Marcelly Perez, and Josephine Gates made the second team.

Echeverri, who was selected as Preseason Player of the Year and was a four-time Defender of the Week this year, tallied 447 digs, ranking second in the conference. She also registered her 1,000^th career dig in the process. Echeverri was third in the HBCUAC averaging 4.30 digs per set. She recorded 21 matches with 10 or more digs and a season-high 28 digs back on Oct. 9 against William Carey University (Miss.) When she records double-digits the Tornadoes are 16-7 as a team.

Costarelli surpassed 1,000 career assists this season while earning Setter of the Week twice.  Her performance paced the top attacking team in the conference with 11.72 kills per set. She ranked sixth in the conference with 5.23 assists per set. Costarelli played in a team-high 107 sets this season and is one of only three Tornadoes to play in 31 matches.  This year she tallied a team- and season-high 31 assists on Sept. 30 against NCAA Division II member Miles College.

Rivas, who was First Team, was the top Tornado this season in kills with 263 while averaging 2.96 kills per set.  The sophomore averaged a team-high 3.4 points per set for Talladega in 89 sets played. Her 263 kills were third in the conference and in conference-only matches she tallied 121 kills to finish fourth.

Ashley was one of only two Tornadoes to register 200-plus kills this season as she took home First Team honors. She finished with 232, which was 29 kills behind Rivas.  Her 1.81 kills per set was third on the team. The senior tallied a .282 hitting percentage to rank third. Ashley also finished in the top three on the team with 31 matches played this year.

Sophomore Johnson, who took home Second Team recognition finished with a team-high .328 hitting percentage.  Her 77 total blocks on the year were third on the team.
Perez was the top Tornado in solo blocks 21 and total blocks with 86 to earn Second Team.  The sophomore was second on the squad in block assists with 65. She was one of four players this season to register over 200 points (209.5 pts.)

Gates, who was named Second Team was second on the team in hitting percentage with a .297 this year.  The senior was the third player to play in 31 matches and second on the team in sets played at 103. She tallied 4.12 total attacks per set this season to rank third on the Tornadoes.