Four Skyhawks Receive Ohio Valley Conference Postseason Accolades
4/22/2026 10:00:00 AM | Beach Volleyball
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin beach volleyball program accounted for a plethora of Ohio Valley Conference postseason honors as the league unveiled those awards this morning.
Kayla Bryant and Riley Rushing each claimed a spot on the 10-person All-OVC first team while Dylan Sulcer was crowned with All-OVC second team accolades. Abby Freund completed the Skyhawk award winners today as she landed on the four-person OVC All-Freshman squad.
This marks the third career OVC postseason honor for Bryant, who was also named to the All-OVC first team last spring before collecting OVC All-Freshman accolades in 2023. The redshirt junior out of Louisville, Ky. was responsible for a 14-6 overall record and 6-3 mark against league foes while competing exclusively at No. 1 (alongside Rushing) or No. 2 (with Reagan McGee) in the UT Martin lineup. Bryant's longest winning streak of the season was a five-match stretch from March 20 through March 27 while she also started 2026 with four consecutive victories. Just yesterday, she was crowned as one half of the OVC Pair of the Week alongside Rushing – nabbing her fourth career OVC Pair of the Week award (all coming in the last two seasons).
A senior from Snowmass Village, Colo., Rushing has occupied the No. 1 slot in the Skyhawk lineup all season long. Consistently matched up against the best the opposition has to offer, she went 14-6 this spring with a 6-3 record in OVC matchups. She won eight of her first nine decisions of the season, including a season-long six-match winning streak from March 14 through March 21. She was spotlighted as one half of an OVC Pair of the Week twice this spring – bringing home those honors alongside Sulcer on March 25 before garnering those accolades yesterday with Bryant. Rushing became only the 11th UT Martin player to win OVC Pair of the Week twice in a single season and the first to accomplish that feat with two separate partners.
Sulcer split time between the top three positions in the Skyhawk lineup in 2026, combining for a 14-6 record and a 6-3 mark against OVC opponents. Hailing from Brentwood, Tenn., she went 9-3 at No. 1, 4-0 at No. 2 and tacked on another victory at No. 3 while playing alongside four separate partners to cap off a versatile junior campaign. Her best stretch of the season came from March 14 through March 21, reeling off six consecutive triumphs while playing alongside Rushing – including a win over OVC Pair of the Year McKenna Faychak/Maddie Lecik from Chattanooga on March 18. Exactly one week after that win, she earned her first career OVC Pair of the Week accolade with Rushing.
Splashing onto the scene this past weekend was Freund, who becomes just the seventh UT Martin representative to be voted on the OVC All-Freshman team. The St. Peters, Mo. native made her Skyhawk debut at the OVC Weekend at Morehead State on April 17-18, joining forces with Kristin Phillips at No. 5 to go 3-1. Their only setback was a narrow three-set tiebreaker in the regular season finale against Lindenwood as she soared to wins over Tennessee Tech, Morehead State and Eastern Illinois as she and Phillips conceded just 14.8 points per set to their league rivals.
UT Martin's pursuit of a league title begins tomorrow as the three-day OVC Championship tournament takes place at the Skyhawk Beach Volleyball Complex. UT Martin's debut appearance in the double-elimination tournament is set for 12 p.m. tomorrow against No. 6 seed Tennessee Tech.
Kayla Bryant and Riley Rushing each claimed a spot on the 10-person All-OVC first team while Dylan Sulcer was crowned with All-OVC second team accolades. Abby Freund completed the Skyhawk award winners today as she landed on the four-person OVC All-Freshman squad.
This marks the third career OVC postseason honor for Bryant, who was also named to the All-OVC first team last spring before collecting OVC All-Freshman accolades in 2023. The redshirt junior out of Louisville, Ky. was responsible for a 14-6 overall record and 6-3 mark against league foes while competing exclusively at No. 1 (alongside Rushing) or No. 2 (with Reagan McGee) in the UT Martin lineup. Bryant's longest winning streak of the season was a five-match stretch from March 20 through March 27 while she also started 2026 with four consecutive victories. Just yesterday, she was crowned as one half of the OVC Pair of the Week alongside Rushing – nabbing her fourth career OVC Pair of the Week award (all coming in the last two seasons).
A senior from Snowmass Village, Colo., Rushing has occupied the No. 1 slot in the Skyhawk lineup all season long. Consistently matched up against the best the opposition has to offer, she went 14-6 this spring with a 6-3 record in OVC matchups. She won eight of her first nine decisions of the season, including a season-long six-match winning streak from March 14 through March 21. She was spotlighted as one half of an OVC Pair of the Week twice this spring – bringing home those honors alongside Sulcer on March 25 before garnering those accolades yesterday with Bryant. Rushing became only the 11th UT Martin player to win OVC Pair of the Week twice in a single season and the first to accomplish that feat with two separate partners.
Sulcer split time between the top three positions in the Skyhawk lineup in 2026, combining for a 14-6 record and a 6-3 mark against OVC opponents. Hailing from Brentwood, Tenn., she went 9-3 at No. 1, 4-0 at No. 2 and tacked on another victory at No. 3 while playing alongside four separate partners to cap off a versatile junior campaign. Her best stretch of the season came from March 14 through March 21, reeling off six consecutive triumphs while playing alongside Rushing – including a win over OVC Pair of the Year McKenna Faychak/Maddie Lecik from Chattanooga on March 18. Exactly one week after that win, she earned her first career OVC Pair of the Week accolade with Rushing.
Splashing onto the scene this past weekend was Freund, who becomes just the seventh UT Martin representative to be voted on the OVC All-Freshman team. The St. Peters, Mo. native made her Skyhawk debut at the OVC Weekend at Morehead State on April 17-18, joining forces with Kristin Phillips at No. 5 to go 3-1. Their only setback was a narrow three-set tiebreaker in the regular season finale against Lindenwood as she soared to wins over Tennessee Tech, Morehead State and Eastern Illinois as she and Phillips conceded just 14.8 points per set to their league rivals.
UT Martin's pursuit of a league title begins tomorrow as the three-day OVC Championship tournament takes place at the Skyhawk Beach Volleyball Complex. UT Martin's debut appearance in the double-elimination tournament is set for 12 p.m. tomorrow against No. 6 seed Tennessee Tech.
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