Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Month for April of 2025

5/9/2025 2:00:00 PM

MEN'S VOLLEYBALL
FRESHMAN OF THE MONTH - Previous Winners
Luca Colombo | Mount Olive | Freshman | Libero | Milan, Italy
Colombo registered 31 digs and seven assists over 14 sets played while boasting a .962 reception percentage with just three errors. On April 5, he delivered an elite defensive performance with 14 digs in a four-set match against Lincoln Memorial. Colombo recorded six digs and four assists in a 3-0 sweep over North Greenville in the semifinals of the conference tournament.

WOMEN'S LACROSSE
FRESHMAN OF THE MONTH - Previous Winners
Brooklyn Kiest | Young Harris | Freshman | Midfield | Simpsonville, South Carolina
Kiest had a big final month of the season for Young Harris, scoring 20 goals and added an assist to help the Mountain Lions reach the semifinals of the Conference Carolinas Women's Lacrosse Championship. She posted two game-winning goals, coming in a 19-17 win over Belmont Abbey and a 14-13 win over North Greenville in the conference quarterfinals. She posted six goals in the contest against North Greenville and added five tallies in a 14-13 win over Emmanuel.

MEN'S LACROSSE
FRESHMAN OF THE MONTH - Previous Winners
Brayden Rieger | Mount Olive | Freshman | Attack | Prince Albert, Saskatchewan
A native of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Rieger continued his stellar freshman campaign after totaling 16 points behind 10 goals and six assists in four games. He set a career-high with four goals while adding four ground balls in an 18-4 win over Chowan on April 2. The following week, Rieger matched a career-best with six points after netting four goals and two assists in a 25-10 victory at Emmanuel. He tallied one goal and four assists on April 22 versus Young Harris in the quarterfinals of the league tournament.

WOMEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD
FRESHMAN OF THE MONTH - Previous Winners
Janara Bryant | Mount Olive | Freshman | Sprints| Beaufort, North Carolina
Bryant recorded four event victories in April, including a pair of individual conference championships, while setting multiple NCAA standards. She delivers first-place finishes at the Trojan Relays in the high jump (1.57m) and long jump (5.85m) on April 11-12. At the Aggie Invitational on April 18-19, Bryant set a conference and school record in the triple jump with a distance of 12.85 meters to place second overall before establishing a new school record in the long jump with a mark of 6.03 meters to finish third.

On April 24-26 at the Conference Carolinas Championship, Bryant was named Freshman of the Year after tallying 24 points toward the team standings (first in the long jump; first in the triple jump; fifth in the high jump). In the triple jump, she reset her conference record and hit a new meet record with a leap of 13.10 meters, which ranks second in NCAA Division II.

MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD
FRESHMAN OF THE MONTH - Previous Winners
Happy Lea | Southern Wesleyan | Freshman | Jumps/Throws | Woodruff, South Carolina
Lea had a big final month of his first season at Southern Wesleyan, takgin a pair of Conference Carolinas Outdoor Track & Field Championships victories. He won both the 110 meter hurdles and the 400 meter hurdles at the conference championship with times of 14.32 seconds and 53.82 seconds, respectively. Earlier in the month he he finished first in the 110 meter hurdles and eighth in the javelin at the Electric City Invitational. At the Lee Fast Break, he finished second in the 400 meter hurdles.

WOMEN'S TENNIS
FRESHMAN OF THE MONTH - Previous Winners
Maud Scholten | Young Harris | Freshman | Den Bosch, Netherlands
In April, Scholten went 5-2 in singles play, earning a first round match of the Conference Carolinas Women's Tennis Championship match over Francis Marion 7-5, 6-1. In doubles, Scholten, along with partner Holly Ashford posted three wins.

MEN'S TENNIS
FRESHMAN OF THE MONTH - Previous Winners
Peru Bayo | Belmont Abbey | Freshman | Getxo, Spain
Bayo closed the season with six wins, five coming at the third fight and the final one coming at No. 2 singles. All of the wins came in straight sets before defeating Stanley Waters of Converse 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 in the Conference Carolinas Men's Tennis Championship.

SOFTBALL
FRESHMAN OF THE MONTH - Previous Winners
Chloe Smith | Southern Wesleyan | Freshman | Pitcher/First Base | Villa Rica, Georgia
In the final month of Smith's freshman season, she posted a 4-4 record with a 2.92 ERA for Southern Wesleyan. In eight appearances, she tossed 48 innings, and five complete games. The complete games came against Shorter, Barton, Erskine in the regular season and Barton and Francis Marion in the Conference Carolinas Softball Championship. In the complete game against Erskine she struckout a month-high of five. Smith also hit her first career home run on April 25 against Converse.

BASEBALL
FRESHMAN OF THE MONTH - Previous Winners
Jonny Smith | Young Harris | Freshman | Infield | Suwanee, Georgia
Smith had a big final month to his freshman season at Young Harris, hitting .328 with 21 hits, including six doubles and three home runs. He also scored 18 runs and drove in 21. In the month, he posted eight multi-hit games, including two with three hits. Smith drove in four runs in a game four times throughout the month. He closed the month with a slugging percentage of .563 and on base percentage of .427.