BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – After completing one of the best volleyball seasons for a University of Tennessee at Martin freshman in school history, Kylie Surratt was voted to the All-Ohio Valley Conference second team this morning.
Surratt was one of just three freshmen to garner All-OVC recognition as the league identified its top 22 players today. The Maryland Heights, Mo. native also becomes the first Skyhawk to claim All-OVC first or second team status during her collegiate rookie campaign.
The 6-0 outside hitter became just the third freshman in the school’s NCAA Division I Era (since 1992) to pace UT Martin in kills, joining Natalie Klevan in 1999 and Erin Wayne in 1993. Her 292 kills – 80 more than any other teammate – were the third-most for a freshman in the Skyhawks’ NCAA Division I Era, trailing only Traci Tisch (357 in 1992) and Wayne (318 in 1993).
In OVC play, Surratt concluded the regular season ranking seventh in the league in kills (3.18 per set) while ranking eighth in points (3.52 per set). Overall, she ranked ninth in the OVC in kills at 2.98 per set while adding 191 digs (1.95 per set), 30 blocks, 17 service aces and 15 assists.
Surratt led UT Martin in kills in 15 out of its 27 matches in 2024, reaching double figures in that category 14 times. She posted at least 15 kills on nine separate occasions, including a career-best 20 rally killers on a career-high .375 attack percentage (only five errors in 40 swings) in four sets against OVC rival Lindenwood on Oct. 19. With that effort, she became the first Skyhawk freshman to reach 20 kills in a match since Emily Keaton on Oct. 28, 2011.
Surratt accumulated a pair of double-doubles (15 kills and 13 digs against Grambling on Aug. 30, 16 kills and career-best 18 digs against Southern Illinois on Sept. 10) and hit above .275 in six different matches. She also reeled off a career-high three service aces in the aforementioned Aug. 30 match against Grambling and again on Sept. 6 against North Alabama. She scooped up double-digit digs five times and had eight multi-block performances, including a career-best four swats in the previously mentioned match against Lindenwood on Oct. 19.
For her efforts, Surratt was crowned as OVC Freshman of the Week three times (Sept. 2, Oct. 21, Oct. 28) – marking the first time in UT Martin history that any player had won that award more than once. She was also named to the Skyhawk Classic All-Tournament squad on Sept. 7.
