Winthrop's Avery Jolley Voted 2025-26 Big South Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Winthrop volleyball player
Avery Jolley (Knoxville, Tenn.) has been voted the 2025-26 Big South Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, it was announced today by the league office. The annual Scholar-Athletes of the Year is voted on by the Big South Athletic Communications Directors from a pool of each sport’s Scholar-Athlete winner during the past season.
Jolley is the first back-to-back female scholar winner since 2005-07, and earned College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-America Third-Team honors this past season -- the Big South’s first volleyball Academic All-American since 2020-21. The 2025 Big South Volleyball Player of the Year was a 2026 Big South Christenberry Award winner for Academic Excellence, as she graduated with a 4.00 in Business Administration to earn back-to-back Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors. Jolley wrapped up a historic 2025 season by earning AVCA All-Region and All-America Honorable Mention honors -- becoming just the second volleyball student-athlete in Big South history to receive both All-America honors and Academic All-America distinction in the same year. A member of Winthrop’s Honors College, Jolley helped the Eagles win a share of the Big South regular season championship this past season. She tied the program's single-match kills record with 30, and surpassed 1,000 career kills. Jolley finished the 14-match conference slate with 227 kills for 3.98 per set, also slotting in second in the conference with 4.46 points per set. Her season-long performance was recognized with spots on the Winthrop Invitational and Furman Invitational All-Tournament Teams -- along with four Big South Player of the Week awards. In 25 matches played overall in 2025, Jolley posted 380 kills (3.76 per set), 27 service aces (0.27), 430.5 points (4.26), 262 digs (2.59) and 42 total blocks.
In the voting, Jolley finished with 38 points (six first-place votes), followed by Radford women’s golfer
Macy Johnson (20 points) and High Point cross country/track runner
Brianna Malone (20 points, one first-place vote).
The Big South Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year award began in 1995-96, and the annual recipients are listed below.
FEMALE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
1995-96 - Angela Murphy, Coastal Carolina (cross country)
1996-97 - Angela Murphy, Coastal Carolina (cross country)
1997-98 - Jolene Williams, Coastal Carolina (track & field)
1998-99 - Jolene Williams, Coastal Carolina (track & field)
1999-00 - Jolene Williams, Coastal Carolina (track & field)
2000-01 - Jeanne Lambert, Coastal Carolina (volleyball)
2001-02 - Kara Koppel, Coastal Carolina (track & field)
2002-03 - Kara Koppel, Coastal Carolina (track & field)
2004-05 - Danielle McNaney, Liberty (track & field)
2005-06 - Leslie Cook, High Point (basketball)
2006-07 - Leslie Cook, High Point (basketball)
2007-08 - Felicitas Mensing, Coastal Carolina (track & field)
2008-09 - Megan Frazee, Liberty (basketball)
2009-10 - Jill Nyhof, Coastal Carolina (volleyball)
2010-11 - Chelsea Kelley, Radford (softball)
2011-12 - Jane Savage, Gardner-Webb (softball)
2012-13 - Megan Rhodes, Radford (soccer)
2013-14 - Shaela Churchill, Campbell (softball)
2014-15 - Teresa Williamson, Radford (track & field)
2015-16 - Ashley Rininger, Liberty (basketball)
2016-17 - Kelsey Rea, Campbell (track & field)
2017-18 - Mackenize Koeller, Campbell (lacrosse)
2018-19 - Jessica Wollmann, Radford (soccer)
2019-20 - Camryn Brown, High Point (basketball)
2020-21 - Carrie Reaver, Longwood (soccer)
2021-22 - Grace Volk, UNC Asheville (volleyball)
2022-23 - Jessica Donald, Campbell (soccer)
2023-24 - Annah Junge, Charleston Southern (softball)
2024-25 - Avery Jolley, Winthrop (volleyball) and Brianna Malone, High Point (track & field)
2025-26 - Avery Jolley, Winthrop (volleyball)