Four Eagles earn Academic All-District recognition
College Sports Communicators announced their 2025 Academic All-District® teams on Tuesday. Blair Cherry, Emerson Ahsmuhs, Maddie Hurst, and Trinity Hafey represented C-N on this year’s teams.
GREENWOOD, Indiana – College Sports Communicators announced their 2025 Academic All-District® teams on Tuesday. Blair Cherry, Emerson Ahsmuhs, Maddie Hurst, and Trinity Hafey represented C-N on this year's teams.
The 2025-26 Academic All-District® Women's Volleyball Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. To be eligible for this award, student-athletes must have at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average, competed in 90 percent of the institution's games, or started in at least 66 percent of the contests.
This is the fourth year in a row that Carson-Newman Volleyball has had multiple All-District selections, and the first time in two years that four players have made the list.
This is the second time that juniors Blair Cherry and Trinity Hafey have made the list, and the first nod earned by sophomores Maddie Hurst and Emerson Ahsmuhs. Cherry, Hurst, and Ahsmuhs were also selected as those eligible for Academic All-American® status pending the vote from CSC.
Blair Cherry is a junior biochemistry major who has excelled this season as the Eagle's starting setter. On top of a second team all-conference selection, Cherry was the SAC's Elite 23 award winner, which honors the top student athlete at the SAC Championship site. Over the last three years, she has accumulated a 4.0 GPA while dishing 2803 assists, which is already 5th in the all-time career assist category at C-N.
Trinity Hafey is a junior business major who started at libero for the Eagles in 2025. Hafey collected 417 digs this season to stack up to 924 digs over her three years at C-N. She was selected as the SAC's defensive player of the week on October 27, and was ninth among SAC competitors in digs per set.
Emerson Ahsmuhs is a sophomore business major who started every game this season for C-N as a six-rotation hitter. Ahsmuhs was selected to the All-SAC First Team, the D2CCA and AVCA First Team All-Region, and was an AVCA Honorable Mention All-American. Her efforts as an attacker landed her top 30 in the nation in kills per set.
Maddie Hurst is a sophomore business major who started every game as the middle blocker for the Eagles. Hurst was a First Team All-SAC selection both years at Carson-Newman, as well as the 2024 SAC Freshman of the Year in her first season. Hurst was 8th among SAC competitors with 3.00 kills per set this season and did it at a .333 percent clip, the 5th best in the conference.
College Sports Communicators will announce their Academic All-American selections on January 13, 2026.
