Miami Gardens – After winning their fifth-consecutive Sun Conference Regular Season Title and two wins away from their fourth-straight Tournament trophy, the Sun Conference honored St. Thomas University's Whitney Battoe and Breno Ertty as the league's Coach and Assistant Coach of the Year while Raya Mlyakova was crowned the Freshman of the Year. Joining Mlyakova on the All-Conference First Team was Tayla Barnes, Payton Bertke and Aleksandra Ivanovic with Alexandra Bruno earning Second Team distinction.

Under the leadership of Battoe and Ertty, the Bobcats went 23-4 overall with a 15-1 record in Sun Conference play to clinch their fifth-consecutive Regular Season title. The Bobcats rank fourth in the NAIA in hitting percentage with a .275 rate and 11th in blocks with an average of 2.41. The Bobcats made national noise on Saturday, Oct. 25 when they broke the NAIA Attendance Record for a Women's Volleyball Regular Season contest.

Mlyakova earns the league's Freshman of the Year award after pacing the Bobcats behind a team-best 2.76 kills on a .237 hitting percentage, adding 1.63 digs per set and 22 service aces. She eclipsed double-digit kills 12 times, highlighted by a 22-kill effort against Missouri Baptist on Aug. 20. She is the first Freshman of the Year selection for STU since Bruno received the accolade in 2023.

Barnes earned First Team honors after boasting a league-best 1.18 blocks per set with 99 overall on top of 2.33 kills on a .349 clip. She averaged a block or more per set in 15 matches, capped by nine against Midland on Aug. 21. She ended the regular season with four solo blocks and nine assisted over two matches to earn Sun Conference Defender of the Week distinction for the second time this season.
Bertke earns her third-consecutive First Team nod after orchestrating STU's high-octane offense behind 10.26 assists which ranks second in the conference and 10th nationally. Maxing out at 50 assists, Bertke averaged double-digit assists in all but five games this season while adding double-digit digs in 10 matches for double-doubles.

Ivanovic lands on the First Team in her first season as a Bobcat after boasting the second-highest hitting percentage in the NAIA with a .426 rate, averaging 2.26 kills on top of 0.86 blocks. Highlighted by a 16-kill, .650 hitting percentage showing against Webber International on Oct. 11, Ivanovic hit over .400 in 15 games.

Bruno received Second Team accolades after recording 2.42 kills on a .227 hitting percentage and 1.70 digs. She tallied three double-doubles during the 2025 campaign while eclipsing double-digit kills 10 times.

As the Regular Season Champions, the Bocbat host the 2025 Sun Conference Championships with the Semifinals on Friday, Nov. 14 and the Championship on Saturday, Nov. 15. First serve for both days is 4:00 pm.