Minnesota Has Four Named to AVCA All

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Minnesota volleyball had four players named to the AVCA All-Northwest Region team, the organization announced this morning.

Senior middle blocker Phoebe Awoleye, senior opposite Lydia Grote, junior outside Julia Hanson and senior setter Melani Shaffmaster were each named to the all-region team. All four will be up for All-American honors, which will be announced during the Final Four next weekend in Louisville, Ky.

Also an All-Big Ten Second Team selection, Phoebe Awoleye had a breakout final season in the Maroon and Gold. She led the Big Ten with 1.64 blocks per set in conference play, tallying 125 blocks. No other Big Ten player was within 25 blocks of her in league competition. For the season, she recorded 1.48 blocks per set, a figure that ranks No. 6 all-time for a single season at Minnesota and put her in the top-15 nationally this year. She was second in the Big Ten during all games in blocks per set. This was her first all-region selection.

Awoleye tied the school record with 14 blocks in a match against Maryland on Oct. 12 in a sweep. She’s the only player in the country to register 14 blocks in a three set match in 2024. Awoleye had four matches with 10-or-more blocks, which led the Big Ten. She posted five-or-more blocks 18 times this season and won two Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week awards.

A Savage, Minn., native, Julia Hanson had a banner season in her junior year. She hit double-digit kills in 27 of 32 matches, including seven 20+ kill matches. Hanson had 10-or-more kills in each of her last 15 matches of the year. Hanson led the team with 4.57 points and 4.01 kills per set in 2024. She also tallied career-highs in digs (2.19 dps), blocks (0.55 bps) and aces (0.28 saps).

Among Big Ten pins, Hanson ranked seventh in kills per set and third in hitting percentage (.268). Her 473 kills ranked sixth in the league. She earned two Big Ten Player of the Week awards and won AVCA Player of the Week on Dec. 3. Hanson was the first Gopher to earn the distinction since Nov. 22, 2022.

Senior setter Melani Shaffmaster earned her fifth straight AVCA All-Region honor in 2024. She averaged 9.16 assists, 0.97 kills, 2.77 digs, 0.64 blocks and 0.20 aces per set this season, tallying 17 double-doubles. She posted her first ever triple-double against TCU in September, becoming the first Golden Gopher since Sarah Wilhite in 2014 to earn that accomplishment.

Melani passed 5,000 career assists (5,090 total) on senior night, becoming the sixth Gopher ever to do so, including the second in the rally scoring era. She ranks eighth in Minnesota laurels in career digs, with 1,479 in her career. Shaffmaster became the first Gopher ever to reach 5,000 assists, 1,000 digs, 400 kills and 300 blocks this year as well. In addition to AVCA honors, Melani was named First Team All-Big Ten for the second time in her career.

A Burbank, Calif., native, senior opposite Lydia Grote earned her second consecutive AVCA All-Region honor in 2024. She made All-Big Ten second team in 2023 and first team in 2024. The former California transfer ranked second on the team with 3.60 points, 2.90 kills and 0.30 aces per set (35 aces). She set a career-high with 0.78 blocks per set and totaled a career-high eight blocks against UST on Sept. 10.

Grote tallied 18 double-figure kill matches this year, including a run of seven straight to begin Big Ten play. She registered four double-doubles and had five-or-more blocks six different times. Grote had aces in a team-high 21 matches in 2024.

2024 ALL-NORTHWEST REGION AWARDS
Player of the Year: Mimi Colyer, Jr., OH, Oregon
Freshman of the Year: Julia Hunt, MB, Washington
Coach of the Year: Dan Georgalas, South Dakota State