Saturday, November 4, 2017
by Wes Bloomquist | wbloomquist@uttyler.edu

TYLER – UT Tyler senior Brieanne Brown has been named to the American Southwest Conference All-Conference team and Lyndsay Mashe, Kris Mashe and Mallory Sanders earned ASC East Division Coaching Staff of the Year to highlight conference awards that were announced on Wednesday ahead of the start of the ASC tournament. Additionally, Blair Dressendorfer was named the ASC East Division Co-Newcomer of the Year, Brown and Brianna Bellehumeur earned ASC East Division First-Team, Samantha Lee, Makenna Bartlett and Reighanna Guzman were ASC East Second-Team and Kaitlyn Budisalovich and Haley Nemitz were honorable mention selections.

The Patriots have put together one of the winningest seasons in program history at 22-6 entering the ASC Championship opener at noon on Thursday against Hardin-Simmons in Richardson. Mashe and her coaching staff have led the Patriots to the second seed out of the East Division for the second straight season after a 12-4 record in ASC play.

“I’m really proud of the regular season we had,” said Mashe, who is 40-15 at UT Tyler. “Our schedule was tougher than last year and I’m proud of how the kids responded and picked up some big wins. I’m most proud of how our team was all about each other this year. We had so many players that put the team before themselves and I think that’s a huge reason we’ve had a lot of success.”

A Belton native, Brown earns All-ASC for the first time in her career after previously earning All-East Division two times. Brown has provided 246 kills this season and is one of three players who have surpassed 900 career kills for the Patriots. She has recorded double-digit kill performances in 11 matches this season, including a season-high 21 against Howard Payne and then 20 against Mary Hardin-Baylor. She finished ASC play with 47 kill in three matches against UMHB, UT Dallas and ETBU, culminating with 15 at ETBU in a four-set win.

“Brieanne has been an incredible player for us this season,” Mashe said. “We talked with her about being consistent and playing up to her ability every match. She’s made her mark as one of the best players in the conference this year and we couldn’t be more proud of her.”

A junior transfer, Dressendorfer provided 106 kills in 15 matches played before suffering a season-ending injury in mid-September. Dressendorfer had a season-best 16 kills in a win over Susquehanna and 14 in a home win over Hendrix.

“Blair played well before her injury and was a big player for our team,” Mashe said. “I’m proud of how the others have stepped up in her absence. We look forward to getting her back soon.”

Bellehumeur earns ASC East Division First-Team honors in her freshman season after leading the Patriots with 266 kills and adding 328 digs. A Frisco native, Bellehumeur is a two-time ASC player of the week selection and has recorded 12 double-doubles. She recorded a season-best with 17 kills in the regular-season finale against Austin College and had 22 digs against Southwestern. She had double-digit kills in seven ASC matches and finished conference play with 12 kills and 13 digs in a win at ETBU.

Lee earns ASC East honors for the third straight season after she had 155 kills and led the Patriots with 75 blocks in her junior season. A Georgetown native, Lee had 0.86 blocks per set and led the Patriots with a .339 attacking percentage. She is coming off a weekend where she had 12 kills and established a program-best with an .800 attacking percentage against Centenary. Bartlett led the Patriots with 421 digs from the libero position to earn ASC East second-team honors and Guzman has 689 assists coming into the postseason. A junior from San Antonio, Guzman is coming off a career-best 51 assists in a four-set win over Austin College in the finale after having 46 assists in the previous match against Centenary. She also has a 48-assist performance against ETBU and 44 against UTD on her impressive resume as the team’s setter.

Mashe is in her second season with the Patriots and is the first coach to earn ASC coaching honors in UT Tyler’s program history.

2017 ASC Award Winners
All-Conference

2- Two-time All-Conference selection
3- Three-time All-Conference selection
 
East Division 
Most Valuable Player: Emma Wallbrown, UT Dallas
Freshman of the Year: Alana Geymer, UT Dallas
Co-Newcomers of the Year: Blair Dressendorfer, UT Tyler / Alex Nolan, UT Dallas
Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year: Abby Weaver, East Texas Baptist
Coaching Staff of the Year: Lyndsay Mashe, Kris Mashe & Mallory Sanders, UT Tyler
 
First Team

 
Second Team

Honorable Mention: Kaitlyn Budisalovich (OH) UT Tyler; Hailey Matthews (OH) LeTourneau; Kelly Aholt (S) Belhaven, Karina Lay (L) East Texas Baptist; Haley Nemitz (RS) UT Tyler; Ryan Hardin (RS) Belhaven; Meredith Augsburger (S) East Texas Baptist; Sadi Jones (MB) Louisiana College; Jaslyn Bright (RS) Louisiana College; Natalie Coburn (OH) East Texas Baptist; Blaykleigh Smythe (MB) Belhaven;
 
2- Two-time All-Division selection
3- Three-time All-Divison selection
 
West Division 
Most Valuable Player: Natasha Evans, Mary Hardin-Baylor
Freshman of the Year: Corinne Novak, Mary Hardin-Baylor
Sportsmanship Athlete of the Year: Morgan Prince, Hardin-Simmons
Coaching Staff of the Year: Rob Frost & Madeline Odom, Mary Hardin-Baylor
 
First Team

Second Team

 
Honorable Mention: Cheyanne Lovelady (S) Howard Payne; Jordan Livingston (L) Howard Payne; Marjani Myles (MB) Concordia Texas; Haleigh Evans (L) Mary Hardin-Baylor; Ashley Pierce (S) Hardin-Simmons, Meagan Bauer (OH) Hardin-Simmons; Leecia DePaula (L) Hardin-Simmons; Emarie James (S) McMurry; Autumn Kilpatrick (MB) Sul Ross State
 
2- Two-time All-Division selection