PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A trio of Little East Conference (LEC) women’s volleyball student-athletes were recently named All-America Honorable Mention honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) for the 2024 season. Each earned All-American recognition for the first time in their collegiate careers after garnering First Team All-Region honors.
 
LEC tournament champion University of Massachusetts Dartmouth had a pair of All-American recipients in senior outside hitter Kate Wade and junior defensive specialist/libero Emily Pogorelec. They are the first All-America honorees in program history. Graduate middle blocker Nora Ryan also made the All-American team for LEC regular season champion and tournament runner-up Plymouth State University, making her the second All-American in program history.
 
Ryan, who repeated as the LEC Offensive Player of the Year in 2024, completed an outstanding career with her best season yet, notching career-bests for kills, kills per set, hitting percentage, assists, digs and digs per set. Over 29 matches, Ryan slammed 288 kills (2.97 kills/set) with a .367 attack percentage, the highest mark in the LEC, 22nd-best nationally and third highest in program history. She added 80 total blocks to average 0.82 blocks per set, the fourth-most in the league.
 
Wade led the Little East in kills (378), kills per set (3.63), points (443.5) and points per set (4.26) on her way to earning First Team All-LEC honors and being named the LEC Championship Tournament Most Outstanding Player for the second straight season. She also tallied 288 digs and 51 service aces.
 
Pogorelec, who was named the LEC Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in as many seasons, once again led the league with 560 digs and 5.60 digs per set, and notched the 1,500th dig of her collegiate career in the Corsairs title clinching victory over Plymouth State. She ranks 25th in the nation in digs per set and is 37th nationally in total digs.