2022 Division I All-American Awards

LEXINGTON - Four student-athletes from Conference USA were named 2022 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Americans on Wednesday. WKU fifth-year senior middle hitter Lauren Matthews received AVCA Second Team All-American honors. Rice’s fifth-year seniors Anota Andekunle and Carly Graham, along with Hilltoppers senior Paige Briggs were each named Honorable Mention All-Americans.

Matthews received her third AVCA All-American team nod of her career, also earning third team in 2021 and second team during the 2020-21 season. Matthews also earned an honorable mention accolade in 2019 and is now the fourth Hilltopper to earn four All-American titles becoming the first with three team titles. She continues to add to her stellar career as she was named the Conference USA Alyssa Cavanaugh Player of the Year for the second straight season and earned First Team All-Conference and All-Tournament Team for the fourth-straight season. Additionally, Matthews repeated for a third season as the AVCA's South Region Player of the Year, along with her fourth All-Region mark in her career.

Briggs picks up her second honorable mention recognition, after earning the same plaudits during the 2020-21 season along with the AVCA's South Region Player of the Year nod. Briggs has four AVCA All-Region titles, was named the South Region Freshman of the Year in 2019 and earned Conference USA First Team All-Conference and All-Tournament honors for the fourth straight year. Briggs and Matthews’ All-American honors mark the 28th accolades in program history awarded by the AVCA.

Graham was named Honorable Mention All-American for the second straight year. She was the recipient of her third straight Conference USA Setter of the Year Award, becoming just the second player in C-USA history to earn the award three straight years. She received the tournament MVP award following the Owls’ victory in the conference championship. Graham also became the fourth player in school history and the 24th player in C-USA history with 4,000 career assists.

Adekunle was named honorable mention for the second time, having also earned the honor in 2019. She was named First Team All-Conference for the fourth straight year, All-Conference for the fifth straight time, and earned her third All-Tournament Team honor. Against No. 18 Oregon, she notched her 1,000th career kill to become the 16th player in program history to accomplish the feat. 23 players have earned AVCA All-American Team honors under Head Coach Genny Volpe.