Fingall Named AVCA Southeast Region Player of the Year, Three Other Lady Vols Earn Regional Honors

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tennessee's Morgahn Fingall earned AVCA Southeast Region Player of the Year honors Tuesday morning, as the organization recognized four Lady Vols with yearly awards.

Fingall is the first Lady Vol to earn regional player of the year status, and joins AVCA Southeast Region Freshman of the Year winners Yuliya Stoyanova (2004) and Mary Pollmiller (2011) as the only UT student-athletes to be honored by the association with top yearly awards.

Tennessee had four representatives on the Southeast All-Region Team, as Fingall, Caroline Kerr and Jenaisya Moore earned the distinction, while Yelianiz Torres was tabbed with All-Region honorable mention recognition. The Big Orange's four selections are its most since having four in 2011 as well. With her honor this year, Fingall has claimed a spot on the All-Region Team each of the last three years.

Fingall's quickly growing list of yearly honors now include AVCA Southeast Region Player of the Year, SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and All-SEC and AVCA All-Region selections. Throughout the season, she earned AVCA National Player of the Week recognition, brought home SEC Player of the Week honors twice and was four times named SEC Offensive Player of the Week.

The right side hitter is averaging 4.98 points, 4.29 kills, 1.85 digs, 0.77 blocks and 0.30 aces per set while hitting .326 this year. Fingall ranks second in the SEC in kills per set, third in points per set and seventh in hitting percentage. She led the league with 4.38 kills per set during conference play. She sits inside the top 25 nationally in both kills and points per set.

One of the best setters in the country, Kerr adds AVCA All-Region honors to her All-SEC and All-Freshman Team selection. For the year, she is averaging 11.77 assists, 1.98 digs, 0.65 kills, 0.38 blocks and 0.31 aces per set this year. She earned 11 SEC weekly honors this season, including seven SEC Freshman of the Week and two SEC Player and Setter of the Week awards each.

The Champaign, Ill., native ranks third nationally, second in the SEC and leads all NCAA freshmen in assists per set. Kerr posted 30 or more assists in all but two matches this season, including 13 40-assist efforts and four 50-assist performances. She posted four double-doubles on the year, seven outings with multiple aces and seven matches with multiple blocks.

In her lone season with the Lady Vols, Moore has made a huge impact in helping elevate the UT offense. The All-SEC honoree is averaging 4.08 points, 3.77 kills, 1.38 digs and 0.43 blocks pet set while hitting .316 on the year. She ranks seventh in the SEC in kills per set and ninth in points per set.

The Germantown, Md., native posted double-digit kills in 22 matches this season, including a pair of 20-kill efforts. Moore's second on the team in kills behind Fingall, as the duo is one of the best in the SEC.

Moore shined during the Lady Vols' victory at No. 20 Florida, recording career bests in kills (23) and digs (16) to earn her second double-double of the season and posting six kills on .750 hitting in the fifth set. In Tennessee's NCAA Tournament second round matchup against No. 21 Western Kentucky, Moore had a match-high 19 kills—10 of which occurred in the third set—to complete the sweep and help the Lady Vols punch their ticket to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2005.

Being tabbed AVCA All-Region honorable mention marked the first yearly honor for Torres. The graduate student libero was a huge addition this offseason, as the Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, native has spearheaded Tennessee's back row defense. The Lady Vols lead the SEC in assists allowed (10.72/set) and aces allowed (0.82/set), while ranking second in the conference in both kills per set allowed (11.32) and opposing hitting percentage (.191).

For the season, Torres was a three-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week recipient. She is averaging a team-best 3.96 digs per set, which ranks fifth in the SEC, 1.01 assists per set and 0.30 aces per set.

For the first time in 18 years, the Lady Vols will be competing in the Sweet Sixteen this week. In the regional semifinal round, Tennessee will battle the other UT, taking on the reigning NCAA champs and No. 2 seed Texas on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The Longhorns are the Big 12 champions and boast a 24-4 record. They enter the matchup following wins against Texas A&M and SMU in the first and second rounds, respectively.

University of Tennessee Athletics

Fingall Named AVCA Southeast Region Player of the Year, Three Other Lady Vols Earn Regional Honors

Players Mentioned

Morgahn Fingall

Caroline Kerr

Jenaisya Moore

Yelianiz Torres

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