NEW ORLEANS (JMU Athletics) – Kennedy Louisell was named the Player of the Year, Head Coach Lauren Steinbrecher was selected Coach of the Year, and five James Madison volleyball players landed on the 2025 Sun Belt All-Conference teams, the league announced on Wednesday afternoon.
Louisell’s Player of the Year selection is JMU’s first since Miëtte Veldman in 2021 and the fourth during Steinbrecher’s 16-year tenure. Steinbrecher’s Coach of the Year nod was her second in four Sun Belt seasons and fifth in her career, dating back to her time in the CAA. Louisell was also named the conference’s Newcomer of the Year after transferring from High Point following the 2024 season.
Louisell has put together a historic 2025 season, leading the Sun Belt in kills (555) and kills per set (4.94), setting the JMU single-season record for kills in the Division I era. The outside hitter from Grand Rapids, Mich., twice broke JMU’s single-match kills record, notching 37 kills against Georgia State on Oct. 4 and 38 against Georgia Southern on Oct. 25.
She produced 20 or more kills 12 times and had 11 double-doubles, finishing third on the team with 245 digs (2.17 per set). As of Tuesday, Nov. 18, Louisell is second in the country in kills and seventh in digs per set.
Along with the major awards, sophomore Ayen Nhial was named Second Team All-Sun Belt, while Julia McNeley, Addie Norman, and Ana Toumazatos were all named Third Team All-Sun Belt. Toumazatos and Norman are the first JMU freshmen to be named All-Conference since Miëtte Veldman was named First Team All-CAA after the 2021 spring season.
Overall, the five All-Conference selections are JMU’s most in a single season in program history.
Nhial, a sophomore middle blocker from Louisville, Ky., led the team and ranked No. 4 in the conference with 136 blocks (1.24 per set). Both of those marks ranked fourth in the Sun Belt Conference. She elevated her output in conference play, placing No. 3 with 84 blocks at an average of 1.28 per set.
Toumazatos produced right away in her freshman season, finishing the regular season with 305 kills (2.75 per set) – the most for a JMU freshman since Janey Goodman had 327 in the 2013 season. She was consistent all season, finishing with 10 or more kills in 16 matches. She had three matches with 17 kills, including on Oct. 3 against Georgia State. Her other outings came against Ball State (9/14) and Milwaukee (9/12).
Norman finished with a .257 hitting percentage and 212 kills in 106 sets (2.00 per set) of action this season, helping lead a JMU attack that has ranked as the best offense in the Sun Belt and top 25 nationally in several categories. She had seven matches with 10 or more kills, which included a pair of 15-kill performances in conference play against Georgia State (Oct. 3) and Old Dominion (Nov. 8).
The Dukes open the Sun Belt Championship on Friday, Nov. 21, at 5:30 p.m. (ET) against the winner of Thursday’s quarterfinal between Troy and Marshall.
2025 Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Awards
Player of the Year: Kennedy Louisell, James Madison
Libero of the Year: Marta Lazzarin, Georgia State
Setter of the Year: Anna Loberg, South Alabama
Freshman of the Year: Cambria Gaier, South Alabama
Newcomer of the Year: Kennedy Louisell, James Madison
Coach of the Year: Lauren Steinbrecher, James Madison
All-Sun Belt Conference First Team
Maya Winterhoff, App State
Daedrianna Cail, Arkansas State
Jalyn Stout, Coastal Carolina
Reagan Barth, Georgia Southern
Kirsten Barrett, Georgia Southern
Marta Lazzarin, Georgia State
Kennedy Louisell, James Madison
Anna Loberg, South Alabama
Sadie McAda, Southern Miss
Samantha Wunsch, Texas State
Jade Defraeye, Texas State
Amiah Butler, Troy
All-Sun Belt Conference Second Team
Mia Maloney, Arkansas State
Kaitlin Whitlock, Arkansas State
Emily Fowler, Coastal Carolina
Anna Rita, Coastal Carolina
Alex Myers, Georgia Southern
Maria Cecilia de Pinho, Georgia State
Ayen Nhial, James Madison
Cailin Demps, Louisiana
Beatrice Ciccarelli, Marshall
Cambria Gaier, South Alabama
Briana Wilson, South Alabama
Sarah Gooch, South Alabama
All-Sun Belt Conference Third Team
Addison Collum, Arkansas State
Erin Madigan, Arkansas State
Maddie Cugino, Georgia Southern
Julia McNeley, James Madison
Addie Norman, James Madison
Ana Toumazatos, James Madison
Emma Barnett, Marshall
Brynn Botkin, Southern Miss
Sunni Sheppard, Southern Miss
Maggie Walsh, Texas State
Nina Moorer, Texas State
Bailey Hanner, Texas State
— JMU Athletics —
