Vela Named LSC Setter of the Year, Six Other Lions Named All-LSC

By Lion Athletics

RICHARDSON – Seven members of the Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team received all-conference recognition from the Lone Star Conference during Thursday night’s awards banquet.

Celeste Vela (Guadalajara, Mexico) was named LSC Setter of the Year. Vela and Maddy Rashford (Placentia, Calif.) earned first team all-LSC honors, Essence Allen (Tatum) and Lyric Hebert (Arvada, Colo.) earned second team all-LSC honors, and Maiya Dickie (Huntsville) was named honorable mention all-LSC. 

Additionally, Vela, Riley Davidson (Commerce), and Nicki Gonelli (Round Rock – Stony Point) were named to the all-LSC Academic Team. The three honorees for the Lions are the most among all LSC schools.

“I’m really happy for Riley, Nicki, Maria, Maddy, Essence, Celeste, and Lyric,” said A&M-Commerce head coach Craig Case. “Not only are they all great players and deserving of these awards, but they’re great teammates as well. I’m glad that they are being recognized by our conference for their talents and performance this year.”

Vela put together the best statistical performance of any setter in the LSC. She had 905 assists on an average of 10.4 assists per set in the regular season to lead the conference. She had the most assists (51) by a setter in a three-set match this season as well as two of the top-three performances by an LSC setter. She had 63 assists against Lubbock Christian and 59 against UAFS. Vela has been named an all-LSC player for the third time in her career. She was named 2018 LSC Freshman of the Year, 2018 honorable mention all-LSC, and 2019 second team all-LSC. Vela is the second LSC Setter of the Year in program history, joining Jordan Neal in 2013.

Academically, Vela is named to the all-LSC academic team for the first time in her career. She is an industrial engineering major.

“Celeste has put in a ton of work on and off the court to continue to make herself a better player and teammate and this is a wonderful recognition of those efforts,” said Case. “In a league with as many talented setters as the LSC has, this is an even greater honor.”

Rashford is in her third year with the volleyball program, but that was her first full season with the Lions. She was named to the LSC All-Freshman team in the spring of 2021. In the fall, she was named LSC Offensive Player of the Week on October 5. She had 260 kills in 22 matches on an average of 3.33 kills per set, which led the team. She also had 31 blocks.

Allen, like Rashford, is a redshirt freshman who is in her third year in the program. Allen had 247 digs, 239 kills, 23 aces, and 23 blocks. She was second on the team in kills and fourth in digs. This is the first career all-conference honor for Allen. 

Hebert has been named all-Lone Star Conference for the second time in her career, as she was named first team all-LSC in the spring. Playing primarily as the Lions’ libero, Hebert had 441 digs on an average of 4.79 digs per set. Her most notable performance came in the LSC Championship against Oklahoma Christian, she had 41 digs in the five-set thriller. Hebert also had team-leading 31 aces and 91 assists.

Dickie ends her college career with her first all-LSC honor. She made an impact both offensively and defensively for the Lions this fall. She had 172 kills and team-leading 80 blocks.

Gonelli is named to the all-LSC Academic team for the second time in her career. She graduated with a degree in sociology last year and is in graduate school, obtaining her degree in counseling. She has been named to the LSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll eight times, a Dean’s List Recipient, a Best In Class Scholar and had most kills without an error (18) in a match this year in NCAA Division II.

Davidson appeared in all 24 matches this fall and finished second on the team with 268 digs. She graduated with her bachelor of science in business administration and is obtaining her master’s of science in health, kinesiology, and sport studies. She was named All-LSC in Spring 2021, and has been named to the President’s List three times, the Dean’s List three times, the LSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll eight times, and was a Best In Class Scholar.

2021 LSC VOLLEYBALL ALL-ACADEMIC AWARDS

Player	Team	Yr.	Pos.	Major	Hometown
Sophia Berg	Angelo State	Sr.	MB	Biology	Georgetown, Texas
Chloe Patton	Angelo State	Sr.	L	Biology	Gillett, Texas
Arianna Navarrete	Cameron	So.	OH	Psychology	Tucson, Ariz.
Jalee Sims	Lubbock Christian	Jr.	S	Middle School Educ.	Amarillo, Texas
Kelsie Schiefelbein	Oklahoma Christian	Jr.	MH	Biology	Peoria, Ariz.
Kaitlyn Krafka	St. Edward’s	Sr.	OH	Kinesiology	Kyle, Texas
Mackenzie Catalina	Texas A&M International	Sr.	OH	MBA: Marketing	Cedar Park, Texas
Riley Davidson	A&M-Commerce	Grad.	DS	Health, Kines. and Sport Stud.	Commerce, Texas
Nicki Gonelli	A&M-Commerce	Grad.	OH	Counseling	Round Rock, Texas
Celeste Vela	A&M-Commerce	Sr.	S	Industrial Engineering	Guadalajara, Mexico
Kelsi Luckenbach	Texas A&M-Kingsville	Sr.	OH	Criminology	Calallen, Texas
Callie Craus	UT Tyler	Jr.	S	Kinesiology	Grapevine, Texas
Christina Escamilla	UT Tyler	Jr.	RS	Kinesiology	Arlington, Texas
Sadie Snay	West Texas A&M	Jr.	S	Sports and Exercise Science	Kingman, Ariz.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION
Academic Player of the Year: Sophia Berg, Angelo State

2021 LSC VOLLEYBALL ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS
SPECIAL AWARDS
Player of the Year: Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State
Offensive Player of the Year: Kailyn Gilbreath, Angelo State
Defensive Player of the Year: Baleigh Allen, Angelo State
Setter of the Year: Celeste Vela, A&M-Commerce
Libero of the Year: Chandler Vogel, West Texas A&M
Newcomer of the Year: Halee Van Poppel, DBU
Freshman of the Year: Mikaela Garvin, Eastern New Mexico
Coach of the Year: Chuck Waddington, Angelo State

FIRST TEAM

Player	Team	Pos.	Yr.	Hometown
Kailyn Gilbreath	Angelo State	RS	Sr.	Ft. Worth, Texas
Baleigh Allen	Angelo State	MB	Sr.	Katy, Texas
Halee Van Poppel	DBU	OH	Jr.	Argyle, Texas
Hannah Froeschl	Lubbock Christian	MB	Grad.	League City, Texas
Jalee Sims	Lubbock Christian	S	Sr.	Amarillo, Texas
Alissa Tolbert	St. Mary’s	OH	Sr.	San Antonio, Texas
Celeste Vela	A&M-Commerce	S/RS	Jr.	Guadalajara, Mexico
Maddy Rashford	A&M-Commerce	OH	R-Fr.	Placentia, Calif.
Nicole Murff	Texas A&M-Kingsville	DS	Jr.	San Antonio, Texas
Aquincia Strambler	UT Permian Basin	OH/RS	Sr.	Midland, Texas
Analise Lucio	UT Permian Basin	S	Sr.	Justin, Texas
Mikayla Ware	UT Tyler	OH	Sr.	San Antonio, Texas
Christina Escamilla	UT Tyler	RS	Jr.	Arlington, Texas
Torrey Miller	West Texas A&M	OH	So.	Brownwood, Texas
Chandler Vogel	West Texas A&M	L	Sr.	Hereford, Texas

SECOND TEAM

Chloe Patton	Angelo State	DS	Sr.	Gillette, Texas
Grace White	Angelo State	MB	Sr.	Helotes, Texas
Leah Palensky	DBU	DS/L	Jr.	Omaha, Neb.
Jasmine Gannon	Eastern New Mexico	OH	Sr.	Clovis, N.M.
Sage Chain	Lubbock Christian	MB	Jr.	Schertz, Texas
Emily Tran	St. Edward’s	S	Sr.	Eagan, Minn.
Mackenzie Catalina	Texas A&M International	OH	Sr.	Cedar Park, Texas
Essence Allen	A&M-Commerce	OH/S	Fr.	Longview, Texas
Lyric Hebert	A&M-Commerce	L/DS	Jr.	Arvada, Colo.
Ayanna Jackson	Texas A&M-Kingsville	MB	Fr.	San Antonio, Texas
Hannah Holland	UAFS	MB	So.	Fort Smith, Ark.
Savannah Guzman	UT Tyler	DS	Jr.	San Antonio, Texas
Kayla Elliott	West Texas A&M	MB	R-Jr.	Wildomar, Calif.
Camy Jones	West Texas A&M	OH	Fr.	Portland, Texas
Bria Augustine	Western New Mexico	OH	Sr.	Bellflower, Calif.

HONORABLE MENTION

Sophia Berg	Angelo State	MB	Sr.	Georgetown, Texas
Delaney Fuller	Angelo State	OH	So.	San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
Elsa Lamphere	Angelo State	OH	So.	Aurora, Colo.
Arianna Navarrete	Cameron	OH	So.	Tucson, Ariz.
Morgan Demuth	Oklahoma Christian	MH	Fr.	Mansfield, Texas
Maya Smalls	St. Edward’s	RS	Jr.	San Antonio, Texas
Caroline Swan	St. Edward’s	OH/RS	Jr.	McKinney, Texas
Julia Aleman	St. Mary’s	OH	So.	San Antonio, Texas
Maiya Dickie	A&M-Commerce	MB/RS	R-So.	Huntsville, Texas
Trixie Oche	Texas Woman’s	MB	Sr.	Richardson, Texas
Bailey Wozniak	Texas Woman’s	S	Jr.	Seguin, Texas
Maiya Pena	UT Tyler	MB	Jr.	Houston, Texas
Hannah Callison	UT Tyler	OH/RS	Sr.	Richmond, Texas
Callie Craus	UT Tyler	S	Jr.	Grapevine, Texas
Sadie Snay	West Texas A&M	S	Jr.	Kingman, Ariz.

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

Jaedyn Woolley	Angelo State	DS	Fr.	Amarillo, Texas
Audrey Nunes	DBU	OH/RS	Fr.	Midlothian, Texas
Mikaela Garvin	Eastern New Mexico	OH	Fr.	San Antonio, Texas
Aaliyah Gray	Lubbock Christian	OH	Fr.	Lubbock, Texas
Kendall Mahaney	Lubbock Christian	DS	Fr.	Lubbock, Texas
Cali Nims	St. Mary’s	S	Fr.	Corpus Christi, Texas
Blair Moreland	West Texas A&M	S/OH	Fr.	Katy, Texas