IRVING — UTSA placed six players on this year's All-Conference USA teams, the league office announced on Tuesday. Dajana Boskovic, Dempsey Thornton and Jessica Waldrip were first-team selections, while Annie Kunes and Kylie Schott earned second-team laurels and Marijeta Runjic made the All-Freshman Team.
At 15-1, the Roadrunners earned a share of the C-USA regular season title with Western Kentucky, but they earned the No. 1 seed at this week's conference tournament by virtue of their four-set home win against the Hilltoppers back on Oct. 17.
Boskovic, who picked up all-league accolades for the second year in a row, is averaging a team-leading 4.48 kills per set with 196 digs and 66 blocks. She has tallied 22 matches in double figure kills, including seven performances of 20 or more. The 6-foot-1 outside hitter registered her 10th double-double of the fall at North Texas and tallied a career best 24 winners at Rice en route to C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday.
Thornton, who earned the first all-conference award of her career, leads the team with 377 kills (3.77 kps) to go along with 17 service aces, 208 digs and 34 blocks. She has recorded 24 matches with double-digit kills, including a career best 25 against FIU, and the senior ranks fourth in the circuit in kills (3.76) and points (4.07) per set.
Waldrip, a three-time C-USA Setter of the Week this year, is averaging 12.02 assists per set in C-USA matches. She ranks eighth in the UTSA all-time record books with 1,083 assists and has put up 15 matches of 40-plus assists, including six of 50-plus. The sophomore matched a career best with 59 assists twice this season and holds a team-leading 11 double-doubles. She currently ranks 48th in the nation in assists per set.
Kunes ranks second in the league in digs per set (4.52). The junior libero picked up the first defensive player of the week award at the start of the season after leading the team to a victory at Texas A&M, a program first, when she recorded a career-best 39 digs. She ranks sixth in UTSA's all-time record books with 1,489 digs.
Schott is hitting a team best .389, which also is good for 28th in the nation in addition to 94 blocks. She ranks fifth all-time in total blocks with 323.
Meanwhile, Runjic is second on the team in aces (20), third in kills (252), and fourth in blocks (46). She has appeared in all 27 matches in her inaugural campaign. Filling in for an injured Boskovic early in the season, she tallied a season-best 24 kills at Texas A&M and was recognized as one of ESPNU’s Impact Performances of the Week.
UTSA will take on Charlotte (17-16) in Friday's opening quarterfinal of the C-USA Tournament. First serve is scheduled for 11 a.m. in Hattiesburg, Miss.