After a 17-11 overall record (11-7 WCC) and finishing No. 5 in the West Coast Conference, let’s hand out awards for the players’ efforts throughout the season.
Rookie of the Year: Eliana Ti’a
Ti’a was not only the best freshman on the volleyball team this season, but she was one of their best offensive players overall. As an outside hitter, she finished the season with 229 kills (third-most on the team, No. 24 in the conference) and 56 total blocks (the most on WSU for pin hitters).
She also won WCC Freshman of the Week twice within the first two weeks of matches, including a week when she was nominated to the GCU Classic All-Tournament team. Against Grand Canyon University, she logged 17 kills and three aces, both of which were season-highs for her.
During conference play (18 matches), Ti’a would only surpass 10 kills in a match twice, but she recorded the most (or tied for the most) kills in four different matches. She was also able to play both the left and right sides of the net for the Cougars offensively, which opened up the offense for other hitters.
Ti’a was one of three freshmen to play in all 28 matches for the Cougars this season and capped off her freshman season with a 16-kill performance against the University of San Francisco. Her efforts earned her a spot on the WCC All-Freshman Team.
WSU Outside Hitter Eliana Ti’a reaches high to return the ball against University of the Pacific, Oct. 30
Transfer of the Year: Melina Christodoulou
Out of all the transfers for the Cougars this season, outside hitter Melina Christodoulou was one of two to be a WCC All-Conference honorable mention. The other was libero Tinons Munar Galmés. However, Christodoulou was the Transfer of the Year, for her offensive production and leadership she brought to the Cougars.
Christodoulou was second on the team in kills (243), ranking No. 21 in the WCC. She also had the highest hitting percentage (.260) out of all the outsides on WSU, and accumulated 31 total blocks for the Cougars.
Christodoulou was also clutch in the serve-receive game at certain points in matches. She only recorded 11 aces all season; however, in the match against OSU, she had back-to-back aces to help the Cougars take the lead midway through the third set. The Cougs would go on to win that set and the match.
Christodoulou had another two-service-ace performance against Saint Mary’s, which helped the Cougs go up 4-0 early in the third set.
She did all of this while missing three matches in the middle of the season.
Additionally, coming in as a fifth-year graduate student, playing at three other colleges before WSU, she brought veteran experience to the team. She was a leader and key contributor this season for WSU.
WSU Outside Hitter Melina Christodoulou prepares for a return against University of the Pacific, Oct. 30
Most Valuable Player: Lucie Blažková
It would have been hard to give this award to anyone else on the team. Blažková set a WSU program record for hitting percentage in a season (.443). She also led the Cougars in total blocks (121) and kills (280). She was not only one of the best hitters in the entire WCC, but she was also the most efficient hitter. Her .443 hitting percentage ranked No. 1 in the conference by .053.
Blažková also won WCC Offensive Player of the week in three separate months and was named to two All-Tournament teams in pre-conference play.
Blažková could take over matches, both offensively and defensively. In WSU’s first match against Seattle University, she single-handedly ended the second set by hitting four straight kills, from points 22-25. Additionally, in the third set in the second match against Pepperdine, Blažková tallied three blocks in four points to help the Cougs get the set back within one point, at 18-17. They trailed 7-1 earlier in the set.
Whenever she made a big play, she usually let out a silent yell and celebrate with her teammates. This would amp up the whole team and help them go on long runs. When she made a big play, it typically shifted momentum in the Cougars’ favor.
In addition to all her in-season awards and performances, she was the only Cougar to earn WCC First-Team honors and the only Cougar to make the AVCA Northwest All-Region First Team.
She did all of this while attaining a 3.92 GPA. She was a leader on and off the court and was the face of WSU volleyball this season, especially considering how dominant she was both offensively and defensively. No other player on the team played both sides of the ball as well as she did.
Most Improved Throughout the Year: Livia Ward
Setter Livia Ward came into this year as the secondary setter to Italia Bernal. Nonetheless, she only improved as the season progressed.
She played all 28 matches for the Cougars. In her first 14, she had 15 or more assists eight times; in her last 14, she had 15-plus assists 11 times. She also had four matches with 10 or more digs in the last half of the season, compared to only one in the first half of the season.
Down the stretch, she also completely filled in for Bernal. Bernal did not play in the last two matches, meaning Ward needed to step up. She took the challenge and logged 29 and 45 assists, respectively, in those last two matches. The 45 assists were the most by a Cougar the entire season in one match.
Her season highs in kills (4), assists (45), points (5), aces (3), digs (17) and total blocks (2) all came in the last eight matches.
Ward also became known for her dump sets, and she became more confident attempting them as the season went on. She had 36 attack attempts in the first half of the season, yet she had 42 in the second half. Although she was more accurate on average with these dumps in the first half of the season, she was still willing to attempt them. She became more confident as the season advanced.
Ward’s passes also became more accurate as the season went on, feeding the outsides and middles with better accuracy and speed.
Ward was never a subpar player; however, she particularly thrived as the season went on.
WSU Setter Livia Ward prepares to set the ball for her teammates against University of the Pacific, Oct. 30
Offensive Player of the Year: Lucie Blažková
Offensively, there was no other Cougar more effective and efficient than Blažková. In 2024, Blažková was productive with the number of kills she had (200), but the hitting percentage was not quite there (.278).
This season, not only did she improve mightily with her hitting percentage, but she even had more kills. This season, her hitting percentage was the highest in program history, at .443, and she had 280 kills, the most on the team. Her hitting percentage ranked No. 1 in the conference, and her 280 kills ranked No. 16. She also recorded 30 service aces this season, third-most on the team and No. 19 overall in the WCC.
She also tied Melina Christodoulou for most kills in a match this season with 19, and had seven matches with 15 or more kills. Blažková also won WCC Offensive Player of the Week three times. No other Cougar won that award once this season.
WSU Middle Blocker Lucie Blažková sends the ball over the net towards Pepperdine University Middle Blocker Ella Piskorz, Nov. 8
Defensive Player of the Year: Tinons Munar Galmés
Libero Tinons Munar Galmés led the team, by far, in digs, recording 332 on the year. That number also ranked No. 8 in the conference. With 482 reception attempts, she recorded a .932 reception percentage.
Munar Galmés did not record as many blocks as Blažková, for example; however, she is the libero and is not expected to do that. Without her, the Cougars would not have been able to start many offensive attacks.
She was the Cougar who was targeted the most on the team on opposing teams’ serves. Had she not received the ball well and as efficiently as she did, the Cougars’ offense would have struggled. She also extended back-and-forth points all season for the Cougars, improbably digging up balls that would have otherwise been kills. These digs were also typically great passes that led to strong offensive counter-attacks for WSU.
Her digs also often led to direct kills, as she recorded 100 assists this season, third-most on the Cougars. Not only could she dig the ball, but she could dig the ball accurately.
As the first-string libero, she did a great job mentoring freshman Maddy Joswick. Joswick played only two fewer sets than Munar Galmés and had even had a higher reception percentage (.937, .005 higher than Munar Galmés). Joswick recorded 131 digs on the season and proved to be a top-three freshman on the team by the end of the season.
Munar Galmés finished the season as a WCC All-Conference honorable mention.
WSU volleyball joins the applause as they finish their match against Seattle University, Nov. 15, 2025
Serve-Receive Player of the Year: Tinons Munar Galmés
Serve-receive was one of the biggest aspects of each match that head coach Korey Schroeder prioritized. Therefore, it is only fitting to give an award for it.
Munar Galmés wins this award. She had the most service aces on the team (35) and had a .932 reception percentage. Her 35 aces were tied for ninth-most in the WCC. The reception percentage was not amazing; however, she was targeted 482 times on opposing teams’ serves and typically set up the Cougar offense cleanly.
She helped keep the Cougars in-system while getting opposing teams out-of-system, which helped the Cougars in several matches. For example, she had six aces against Seattle University, the first time they played them. The Cougars finished that match with 14 total aces. The second time they played Seattle, she recorded five out of the 11 aces the Cougars had. Munar Galmés finished the season with 10 multi-ace matches.
Underrated Player of the Year: Camryn Lingenbrink
Due to the success of Blažková this year, it felt like middle blocker Camryn Lingenbrink fell under the radar at times. It was almost as if she were viewed as “the backup” to Blažková for most of the season. However, she was a great addition to the team and was a key contributor.
Lingenbrink came to WSU as a graduate student after spending three seasons at the University of Tulsa and showed up this season.
She and Blažková were the only Cougars to start all 28 matches and play all 100 sets. She ended the year with 134 kills (sixth-most on WSU), hit .318 (second-highest on WSU) and had 83 total blocks (second-most on WSU).
She showed up especially on senior night against Portland. She recorded eight kills and three blocks, both of which were top-three on the Cougars that night.
Lingenbrink was also consistent. She only had under three kills in a match three times this season, and had at least one block in each match except for the game against Lafayette.
WSU Outside Hitter Eliana Ti’a (L) and Middle Blocker Camryn Lingenbrink (R) join for a block against University of the Pacific, Oct. 30
Lingenbrink is often overlooked because of Blažková, but she was a key part of Blažková’s success, especially defensively with blocking. They formed a great one-two combination in the middle of the court but she was often forgotten when Blažková was on the court with her. This allowed her to rack up kills and help keep WSU’s offense productive.
She may not have put up the best statistics or single-handedly won matches for WSU, but she was consistent and helped the Cougars substantially offensively and defensively.
