Winthrop's Avery Jolley and High Point's Brianna Malone Voted 2024-25 Big South Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – Winthrop volleyball player
Avery Jolley (Knoxville, Tenn.) and High Point track & field runner
Brianna Malone (Barrington, N.H.) have been voted the 2024-25 Big South Conference Co-Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, it was announced today by the league office. The annual Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year is voted on by the Big South Sports Information Directors from a pool of each sport’s Scholar-Athlete winner during the past season.
It is the first time co-winners have been voted since the inception of the awards in 1995-96. Jolley is the first Winthrop female athlete ever to be honored, while Malone is High Point’s first honoree since 2019-20 and third overall.
Jolley holds a 4.00 GPA in Business Administration with a concentration in Healthcare Management, and was a First-Team All-Conference honoree last season while helping the Eagles reach the Big South Championship final and a berth in the NIVC postseason tournament. A five-time President’s List honoree and three-time Big South Presidential Honor Roll and Commissioner’s Award recipient, Jolley is a member of Winthrop’s Honors College and FCA, and served as treasurer for Winthrop’s SAAC. She led Winthrop with 320 kills during her junior season in 2024, was second in the Big South with 3.64 kills per set, and averaged 4.00 points per set to rank second in the league. Jolley also surpassed 500 career digs last season and was 10th in the conference with 3.00 digs per set. She has earned All-Conference honors all three years at Winthrop --First-Team in 2024, Second-Team in 2023 and Honorable Mention in 2022.
Malone is a 4.00 student studying Actuarial Science, and was a College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District selection in track & field in 2025, as well as a national finalist for Academic All-America distinction. The Big South Indoor Track & Field and Outdoor Track & Field Scholar-Athlete of the Year honoree in 2025, Malone was also voted the Big South’s Female Track Athlete of the Year for this past season. She won the Big South indoor 800m and mile races, and set the conference and school records in the 3K (9:09.58), mile (4:35.62) and 1,000m (2:47.82) during her sophomore campaign in 2025. Malone placed in the Top 5 in four different events in back-to-back indoor events at the Doc Hale Meet and the Brant Tolsma Invitational. During the outdoor season, she was crowned the Big South champion in the 800m and 1,500m, and set the HPU record and Championship Meet record in the 800m with a time of 2:05.34. Malone qualified for the NCAA East First Round in the 1,500m and shattered the school and Big South record with a time of 4:11.37 to place 14th. She competed in six meets during the outdoor regular season, and helped the Panthers’ 4x800m relay establish the school and league record with an 8:44.14 at the Penn Relays.
In the voting, Jolley and Malone tied with 27 points (two first-place votes each), followed by Charleston Southern cross country runner
Taylar White (22 points) and High Point soccer player
Tessa Carlin (21 points).
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)