On Dec. 1, West Coast Conference All-Conference Honors, which recognize players’ performances on the court, were announced. The honors, which recognize individual awards and all-conference teams, are voted on by the 12 coaches of the teams that make up the conference. Four Cougars received all-conference honors. 

Outside hitter Melina Christodoulou and libero Tinons Munar Galmés were honorable mentions, outside hitter Eliana Ti’a made the all-freshman team and middle blocker Lucie Blažková made the first team.

Then, on Dec. 4, WCC All-Academic Honors were announced. To be considered, an athlete must have at least a 3.2 GPA, be a “significant contributor” to their team and have played at least two seasons with the same university.

Two Cougars earned all-conference academic honors: outside hitter Taryn Vrieling was an honorable mention and Blažková made the all-conference team.

Melina Christodoulou:

In her first season at Washington State, Christodoulou, as an all-conference honorable mention, recorded the second-most kills for the Cougars (243), which was also the 21st-most in the WCC. She was also second on the Cougs in total points per set (3.14), which was 19th-most in the conference.

“Melina coming in and having the season that she did was fantastic,” head coach Korey Schroeder said.

Christodoulou was also an experienced leader on the team for the Cougars this season. She is a fifth-year graduate student who played college volleyball at three different universities before coming to Wazzu.

She also earned recognition despite missing three matches midway through the season, between Oct. 16 and Oct. 25. However, this season was her last season of eligibility, so she will not be returning next season.

Tinons Munar Galmés:

Sophomore Munar Galmés transferred from Florida A&M and was expected to fill in for Emma Barbero, the Cougs’ primary libero last season. In 2024, Barbero was sixth in the WCC with 430 digs. Barbero also had 141 assists, 31 aces and had a .958 reception percentage.

Munar Galmés effectively took over Barbero’s role as libero for WSU. Defensively, she had 332 total digs (eighth in the WCC). Offensively, she had 100 assists (third-most on WSU) and was tied for ninth-most service aces in the conference with 35, including two matches where she had five or more aces. 

She also had a .932 reception percentage, which was third on WSU for players who had at least 150 reception attempts. This helped the Cougars set up their offense and kept them in rhythm in the serve-receive game all season. 

“To me, she’s the best passing libero in the conference,” Schroeder said. “There’s some liberos that are ahead of her defensively … but … the game is about serve and pass. She’s an incredible server, one of the best scorers in the conference, was the best passer in the conference … to me … [she] probably deserved a little bit higher recognition than honorable mention, but … [I am] really proud of what she did here in year one.”

Eliana Ti’a:

As a true freshman, Ti’a was one of the Cougars’ best offensive weapons. She played on both the right and left sides of the pins this season and recorded 229 kills (third-most on WSU and 24th in the conference). She also performed well defensively, recording 56 total blocks, the most out of any pin hitter on the Cougs.

Ti’a especially played well in the pre-conference tournaments. She recorded a season-high 17 kills against Grand Canyon University in the GCU Classic, a weekend where she also made the All-Tournament team. She also won WCC Freshman of the Week twice in the Cougs’ first two weeks of matches.

“Eliana bouncing from the outside to the right side, back to the outside … [she] was very deserving [of the All-Freshman Team],” Schroeder said.

Taryn Vrieling:

Vrieling, in her second and final year with WSU, maintained a 3.90 GPA this semester while also being a big contributor to the team’s offense. She had 197 kills (4th-most on the team), accumulating 2.40 kills per set (23rd-most in the WCC). She also had 17 service aces this season, which helped give the Cougs momentum at certain points in matches.

Additionally, Vrieling was the hardest hitter on the Cougars. Although this may have increased the number of attack errors she had. However, when she placed the ball accurately, her attacks were difficult to stop most of the time.

She was also a leader for the Cougs this past season, given that it was her fourth season playing collegiate-level volleyball, and she was one of only five senior-standing players on the team.

“[She] came in and contributed as a junior. As a senior, [she] stepped into a leadership role … that for her, I think, at the time, was a little uncomfortable,” Schroeder said. “But she took it on … and got outside of her comfort zone and grew a lot as a person … and helped our team develop … and had an awesome senior season.”

Since she was a senior, she will not be returning next season.

Lucie Blažková:

As a redshirt sophomore, Blažková was the most valuable player to the Cougars this season. Last year, she was mainly known for her defense, recording 134 total blocks. She had 200 kills while hitting .278 as well, but that does not compare to her offensive output this season.

This year, she led the team in kills (280) and hitting percentage (.443). Her .443 hitting percentage additionally led the WCC and was a WSU program record. She surpassed Magda Jehlářová’s .424, which was the previous record set back in 2023. She also had 30 service aces, third-most on the team and tied for 19th-most in the conference.

Blažková also led the team in blocks, recording 121. 

In the early going, she was named to the WCC All-Preseason team. She was also named to both the GCU Classic and Harvard Invitational All-Tournament teams in the first three weekends of actual matches for the Cougars.

She also won WCC Offensive Player of the Week three different times this season.

Blažková managed all of this while maintaining a 3.92 GPA off the court, which was why she made the WCC All-Academic Team.

Also, on Dec. 9, Blažková was recognized on a regional level, beyond just the WCC. She was named to the AVCA Northwest All-Region First Team.

“Lucie is a no-brainer [for WCC All-Conference First Team] and probably deserves some All-American recognition,” Schroeder said.

Although the Cougars’ season ended before they wanted it to, several players earning all-conference recognition is a positive they can hang their hat on going into next season. It lays a foundation of success that Schroeder can build on in future seasons with more players, especially with his recent four-year contract extension.