Troy University Athletics
Three Trojans Earn All-Conference Accolades
11/15/2022 3:00:00 PM | Volleyball
TROY, Ala. - The Sun Belt Conference announced that Amara Anderson, Tori Hester, and Julia Brooks garnered 2022 All-Sun Belt honors on Tuesday. For Anderson, this is her fourth consecutive year earning all-conference recognition and her third first-team award. Hester earned first-team recognition for the first time in her career, while Brooks earned second-team recognition making it back-to-back seasons picking up all-conference accolades.
This marks the fifth straight year that at least one Trojan has been recognized as a member of the all-conference teams.
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Amara Anderson-Â First Team
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"I'm so happy that Amara's fifth year has been so fulfilling and successful for her," head coach Josh Lauer said. "This has been her best season in many ways, most notably in her competitive composure and defensive effort. She will go down in history as not just the best setter in Troy history but one of the best setters in Sun Belt history as well."
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In her senior season with the Trojans, Anderson totaled 1127 assists, averaging 10.44 assists per set, giving her four seasons, with Troy totaling over 1000 assists, with only the covid shortened season being the exception. As a result, Anderson became the only Trojan to amass 5000 career assists, as she is now the leader in Troy program history. At the same time, ranking third among Sun Belt setters in career assists.
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The Alpharetta, Ga., native has appeared in 141 matches throughout her career, which is among the top five in career matches played in Sun Belt history. This season Anderson started in all of the Trojan's 28 matches and played in 109 sets. Anderson had six matches totaling over 50 assists, including a season-high 59 against Southern Miss, which was third among Sun Belt setters. In addition, Anderson matched a career-high in digs with 23 coming against Georgia Southern giving her 11 double-doubles on the season, the second most on the Trojans. Anderson added 51 kills and finished with a .336 hitting percentage. Anderson had 27 service aces, third most on Troy, and her 259 digs were also third. Anderson added 25 total blocks and saw two Sun Belt setter of the week awards giving her 10 for her career. Anderson will go down as one of the Trojan all-time greats.
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Tori Hester-Â First Team
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"Tori had an outstanding regular season and established herself as one of the premier six rotation players in the Sun Belt," Lauer said. "Her play has been remarkably consistent all year long. Tori battled injury the past two years, and we knew if she could play a complete season, she was destined to shine. I'm very happy for her as she has put in a lot of hard work since arriving at Troy, and I think the best is still yet to come for her.
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Hester cemented herself as one of the top attackers in the Sun Belt Conference. Her 466 kills (12th in the nation) were the third most by a Trojan player in a single season in program history as she averaged 4.28 kills per set (19th in the country) and are both the second most among all players in the conference. Hester started every match and played in 109 sets as one of two players in the conference to have over 500 total points finishing with 527.5, which was top ten in the entire country.
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The Salisbury, N.C., native set new career highs with 27 kills coming against Southern Miss and 23 digs against Georgia Southern. Hester had 22 straight games with double-digit kills totaling 16 double-doubles as she helped guide the Trojans to a program high nine consecutive wins and 11 conference wins, the most for a Troy team. In addition, she won her first career Sun Belt offensive player of the week award. Her 291 digs were second on the team, while she led the Trojans with 39 service aces.
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Julia Brooks-Â Second Team
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"Julia proved this regular season again that she is one of the league's most dominant offensive and defensive players," Lauer said. "Every team we have played this fall has stacked their blockers against Julia, yet she still put up impressive numbers this year. Julia sets a great example daily with her work ethic and team-first mentality, and we are excited to have her in the Trojan uniform for one more season."
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Julia Brooks had another outstanding season for the Trojans as she became the Troy all-time leader in career solo blocks and total blocks this season. Brooks had the seventh-best hitting percentage in the conference at .315, seeing eight games hitting better than .400 to go along with 306 kills, including a season-high of 21 coming against rival South Alabama. Brooks's 31 solo blocks this season were the fourth most by a Trojan in a single season. In addition, Brooks reached 1000 kills on the year, putting her in ninth place on Troy's all-time career kill list.
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