Milligan College senior Kellee Geren from Cleveland was voted the Appalachian Athletic Conference volleyball player of the year for 2019, as well as setter of the year for the second time and first-team All-AAC for the third time. Avery Hilliard of Tennessee Wesleyan also was a first-team selection, and TWU's Marjorie Smith and Bryan College's Rheagan Kean made the all-conference second team. Bryan's Gigi Ford was picked for the all-freshmen team, and Hilliard and Bryan's Paige Randolph were their schools' Champions of Character. Geren totaled 1,164 assists in the regular season (9.9 per set) and 319 digs, and she had 39 assists and 10 digs in No. 3 seed Milligan's 3-0 win Thursday in the league tournament at Kingsport, Tennessee.
* Bryan ended its volleyball season at 20-13 with a 3-0 loss (25-14, 25-19, 25-14) to fourth-seeded Union College (19-19) in the AAC quarterfinals Thursday in Kingsport. Ford and Randolph led fifth seed Bryan in kills with six apiece, Ford adding three aces and 19 digs to go with Kean's 17, and Sidney Pierce had 11 assists. Jaleigh Rogan had 11 digs.
* Sewanee junior Destiny Stewart was included in the 14-player NCAA Division III All-South Region team announced Thursday by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, and Tigers sophomore Lilly Reilly received honorable mention. It is the second AVCA all-region recognition for Stewart, who had 323 kills and 322 digs this season. Reilly had 293 kills and 320 digs for the 20-10 Tigers.
Soccer
* No. 2 seed Tennessee Wesleyan plays today for the AAC women's soccer tournament championship with four first-team all-conference selections, including offensive player of the year Chloe Rootes, and five second-team honorees. Joining Rootes, who had 11 goals and eight assists in regular-season league games, on the first team from TWU were Kelly Morine, Julia Ruiz Vargas and Jessica Young, along with Bryan's Makena Giles. Bryan's Aleithia Robe is on the All-AAC second team with the Lady Bulldogs' Hannah Dearing, Natalie Feaster, Samantha Green, Helene Lium Nyhus and Siobhan Patterson. Green and Bryan's Kylie Murphy were Champions of Character choices.
Baseball
* Cleveland State sophomore shortstop and pitcher Jonathan Hickman from Heritage High School in Ringgold was another area NCAA Division I signee Wednesday, as he officially agreed to play baseball for Tennessee Tech. Transferring to Cleveland State in January, Hickman batted a team-high .381 last season with five home runs, 10 doubles and 39 runs batted in, and he committed only three errors in 170 chances. He was 4-1 with a 3.44 earned run average and 48 strikeouts in 49 2/3 innings pitched. Also missed in the signees list in Thursday's Times Free Press was Ringgold infielder Brayden Broome, who followed through on his commitment to Samford.