Schurig takes home Freshman of the Year; Ludwig, Welter, Kerwin named All-PSAC
11/21/2024 2:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. — For the first time since 2021, a Marauder has won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Freshman of the Year award, as Kylee Schurig earned the honor for a stellar 2024 season. In addition, setter Emma Ludwig earned All-PSAC East First Team honors while outside hitters Taylor Welter and Emma Kerwin made the second team. It is the first time since 2019 that women's volleyball has had three all-conference honorees.
Schurig began her rookie campaign on a hot streak, tallying 10 or more kills in eight of her first nine matches. She started for the majority of the season and played in 115 of a possible 117 sets while excelling in all facets of the game; the Illinois native finished third on the team with 302 kills and paced the Marauders in aces with 49. On the defensive side of the ball, she finished with 296 digs and a .956 receiving percentage while adding 38.0 total blocks.
Two matches stand out when analyzing Schurig's season. The first is a five-set win over Jefferson on Sept. 11 in which she totaled a whopping 25 kills, the most by a Marauder in a single match since at least 2011. The second contest was the playoff match against Shepherd on Nov. 19. The freshman was the team's most effective hitter, finishing with a match-high 20 kills in addition to three service aces and 12 digs. She recorded eight of those putaways in the Marauders' fourth set overtime win and was unfazed down the stretch; with the season on the line, the first-year hitter tallied kills on five of the team's last six points including the final swat which invoked a Ram net violation.
Ludwig set four of those five kills and excelled in her role as the hub of Millersville's offense all year long. The 2024 campaign was the most successful of her illustrious career, and the personal bests began with a career-high 62 assists in a win over California (Pa.) on Sept. 6. She would go on to have her most dimes in a season with 1,109, the third most in team history and the second most in the PSAC. Where the senior improved the most over previous years was on defense, where she put up career highs in blocks (60.0) and digs (391).
It is Ludwig's first first team nod after being named to the second team as a junior. She became the first Marauder in nearly two years to earn weekly recognition from the PSAC when she was tabbed as the Athlete of the Week on Oct. 21. That week, Ludwig set a new women's volleyball program record for assists in a career with 3,581. She was also tabbed as the conference's Defensive Athlete of the Week on Nov. 18 for her role in leading the Marauders to the playoffs with an upset of Shippensburg on Nov. 15.
Welter earns her second straight second team nod after receiving the honor in 2023. She was a force on the outside all season long, totaling the eighth-most kills in the conference and the second-most on the team with 329. She started the season with double-digit kills in nine of her first 10 matches and later posted a new personal best with 22 in four sets at Shippensburg on Oct. 11. The junior's most notable performance came in the postseason-clinching defeat of Shippensburg last Friday; she posted 18 kills in the match to just two errors and was the go-to woman down the stretch, as seven of those came in a crucial fourth-set victory.
Kerwin rounds out the trio of award-winning outside hitters with the first all-conference nod of her career. The sophomore led the team in kills for the second straight season and finished seventh in the conference with 330. She blew away her service and defensive numbers from last season, totaling 40 aces and 177 digs. Her two best performances of the season were both against conference foes. The first was a season-high 19-kill performance in a win over West Chester on Sept. 25 in which she hit .341. The other was an 18-kill effort in the aforementioned defeat of Shippensburg on Nov. 15. She carried the Marauders offense in the first couple of sets, tallying seven kills in the first set including the game-winner.
Schurig is the team's first Freshman of the Year honoree since Caitlyn Callahan in 2021. The entirety of the PSAC East's major award winners and all-conference teams are listed below.
2024 PSAC Women's Volleyball All-Conference: Eastern Division
Athlete of the Year: Anna Coulter, East Stroudsburg
Defensive Athlete of the Year: Shay Kolivoski, Shippensburg
Freshman of the Year: Kylee Schurig, Millersville
Coach of the Year: Alex Hoekstra, Shepherd
PSAC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL EASTERN DIVISION ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
*Nine players on Eastern Division First Team due to a tie
PSAC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL EASTERN DIVISION ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
* Indicates previous All-PSAC first team selection
^ Indicates previous All-PSAC second team selection
Schurig began her rookie campaign on a hot streak, tallying 10 or more kills in eight of her first nine matches. She started for the majority of the season and played in 115 of a possible 117 sets while excelling in all facets of the game; the Illinois native finished third on the team with 302 kills and paced the Marauders in aces with 49. On the defensive side of the ball, she finished with 296 digs and a .956 receiving percentage while adding 38.0 total blocks.
Two matches stand out when analyzing Schurig's season. The first is a five-set win over Jefferson on Sept. 11 in which she totaled a whopping 25 kills, the most by a Marauder in a single match since at least 2011. The second contest was the playoff match against Shepherd on Nov. 19. The freshman was the team's most effective hitter, finishing with a match-high 20 kills in addition to three service aces and 12 digs. She recorded eight of those putaways in the Marauders' fourth set overtime win and was unfazed down the stretch; with the season on the line, the first-year hitter tallied kills on five of the team's last six points including the final swat which invoked a Ram net violation.
Ludwig set four of those five kills and excelled in her role as the hub of Millersville's offense all year long. The 2024 campaign was the most successful of her illustrious career, and the personal bests began with a career-high 62 assists in a win over California (Pa.) on Sept. 6. She would go on to have her most dimes in a season with 1,109, the third most in team history and the second most in the PSAC. Where the senior improved the most over previous years was on defense, where she put up career highs in blocks (60.0) and digs (391).
It is Ludwig's first first team nod after being named to the second team as a junior. She became the first Marauder in nearly two years to earn weekly recognition from the PSAC when she was tabbed as the Athlete of the Week on Oct. 21. That week, Ludwig set a new women's volleyball program record for assists in a career with 3,581. She was also tabbed as the conference's Defensive Athlete of the Week on Nov. 18 for her role in leading the Marauders to the playoffs with an upset of Shippensburg on Nov. 15.
Welter earns her second straight second team nod after receiving the honor in 2023. She was a force on the outside all season long, totaling the eighth-most kills in the conference and the second-most on the team with 329. She started the season with double-digit kills in nine of her first 10 matches and later posted a new personal best with 22 in four sets at Shippensburg on Oct. 11. The junior's most notable performance came in the postseason-clinching defeat of Shippensburg last Friday; she posted 18 kills in the match to just two errors and was the go-to woman down the stretch, as seven of those came in a crucial fourth-set victory.
Kerwin rounds out the trio of award-winning outside hitters with the first all-conference nod of her career. The sophomore led the team in kills for the second straight season and finished seventh in the conference with 330. She blew away her service and defensive numbers from last season, totaling 40 aces and 177 digs. Her two best performances of the season were both against conference foes. The first was a season-high 19-kill performance in a win over West Chester on Sept. 25 in which she hit .341. The other was an 18-kill effort in the aforementioned defeat of Shippensburg on Nov. 15. She carried the Marauders offense in the first couple of sets, tallying seven kills in the first set including the game-winner.
Schurig is the team's first Freshman of the Year honoree since Caitlyn Callahan in 2021. The entirety of the PSAC East's major award winners and all-conference teams are listed below.
2024 PSAC Women's Volleyball All-Conference: Eastern Division
Athlete of the Year: Anna Coulter, East Stroudsburg
Defensive Athlete of the Year: Shay Kolivoski, Shippensburg
Freshman of the Year: Kylee Schurig, Millersville
Coach of the Year: Alex Hoekstra, Shepherd
PSAC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL EASTERN DIVISION ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
| Player | School | Cl. |
| Isabelle Bombas | Shippensburg | Jr. |
| Anna Coulter** | East Stroudsburg | Jr. |
| Kearstin Davis^* | Shippensburg | Jr. |
| Joi Fairweather | Shepherd | Sr. |
| Emily Gardner | Shippensburg | Sr. |
| Shay Kolivoski | Shippensburg | So. |
| Rylee Lenz | Shepherd | So. |
| Emma Ludwig^ | Millersville | Sr. |
| Sophia Ryan | Shepherd | So. |
*Nine players on Eastern Division First Team due to a tie
PSAC WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL EASTERN DIVISION ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
| Player | School | Cl. |
| Macy Buso | Shepherd | Jr. |
| Leonor Chambel | East Stroudsburg | Gr. |
| Taylor Haan* | East Stroudsburg | Sr. |
| Zoe Haines | West Chester | Jr. |
| Emma Kerwin | Millersville | So. |
| Taylor Welter^ | Millersville | Jr. |
| Harli Zeitz | Shepherd | Sr. |
* Indicates previous All-PSAC first team selection
^ Indicates previous All-PSAC second team selection
Players Mentioned
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