Inaugural 2025 Big 12 Beach Volleyball Postseason Awards Announced

The Big 12 announced the 2025 Big 12 Beach Volleyball yearly awards and All-Conference Team on Wednesday. TCU garnered three of the four yearly awards while Utah took home the final superlative award. TCU’s Anhelina Khmil and Ana Vergara were voted the Pair of the Year by the league’s head coaches, while Sofia Izuzquiza (TCU) earned Freshman of the Year. Hector Gutierrez rounded out the individual awards for the Horned Frogs as he was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year. Utah’s Kylie Pitzak was named the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
 
Khmil and Vergara finished the season 18-0 with 17 of those wins coming on the No. 4 court. The duo was the only regular appearing pairing for TCU to finish the regular season undefeated and have combined for a total of 37 wins together all-time. They were selected as a part of the Big 12 All-Tournament team after going undefeated at the Big 12 Championship. The junior and senior accumulated 14 ranked wins on the season and entered Week 10 as the No. 11-ranked pair in the country according to TruVolley.
 
Izuzquiza finished her freshman season with a 26-5 record, the third-most wins by a Horned Frog this season. Of her 26 wins, 18 were against ranked opponents. She teamed up with Allanis Navas to start with a 15-0 record through the first six weeks of the season and are currently the ninth-ranked pair according to the TruVolley pair rankings.
 
Gutierrez led the Horned Frogs to a 19-5 record against ranked opponents. TCU has remained in the top five of the AVCA Coaches’ Poll throughout the entirety of the season and secured its third-ever conference Championship. Under Gutierrez’s tutelage, TCU earned the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship.
 
Pitzak was named the Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The senior boasts a 3.83 GPA in quantitative analysis and has made the dean’s list seven of her eight semesters. She competed in every match for the Utes this season as she split her season between the No. 3 and No. 4 pairs. Pitzak helped Utah advance to the second day of the Big 12 Championship as she contributed a point to Utah’s 3-0 win with a 21-19, 21-15 straight sets victory in the fourth match of the Championship.
 

Pair of the Year – Anhelina Khmil and Ana Vergara, TCU

Freshman of the Year – Sofia Izuzquiza, TCU

Scholar-Athlete of the Year – Kylie Pitzak, Utah

Coach of the Year – Hector Gutierrez, TCU

Big 12 All-Conference Team

Ashlyn Zilliken, Arizona

Daniella Kensinger, Arizona State

Ava Kirunchyk, Arizona State

Samaya Morin, Arizona State

Daniela Alvarez, TCU

Maria Gonzalez, TCU

Hailey Hamlett, TCU

Anhelina Khmil, TCU

Tania Moreno, TCU

Ana Vergara, TCU

Bella Vezzani, Utah

 

*A tie resulted in the team being filled with 11 members instead of 10.