NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Skyline Conference announced its 2026 Women's Volleyball All-Conference selections, with four Gryphons earning All-Skyline First Team honors as Sarah Lawrence swept all four major individual awards.
Head Coach Mauro Miletic, in his first season at the helm, was named Coach of the Year, while rookies Caroline Combs and Kai Perkins earned Rookie of the Year and Libero of the Year honors, respectively. Junior Nikolet Vataj was named Player of the Year, while sophomore Sophia Costa also earned All-Skyline First Team recognition.
In his inaugural season, Miletic guided the Gryphons to a 25-2 overall record and an undefeated 11-0 mark in conference play. Under his leadership, Sarah Lawrence took a set from nationally ranked Stevens for the first time in program history and defeated the United States Merchant Marine Academy for the first time. The victory over USMMA also marked the program's 20th win of the season, establishing a new single-season program milestone.
In a five-set thriller against Drew on Saturday, September 19, the Gryphons established single-match program records with 65 kills and 63 assists. Costa also set a program record with 56 assists in the contest before surpassing her own mark with 59 assists in a five-set victory at FDU-Florham on October 10.
The victory over FDU-Florham also saw Vataj and Perkins etch their names into the program record books. Vataj recorded a single-match program high of 30 kills on 93 attempts, while Perkins tied the program record with 44 digs.
Costa surpassed 1,500 career assists against St. Joseph's University Long Island, while Vataj is just seven kills shy of reaching the 1,000-career-kill milestone.
Combs earned Rookie of the Year honors after collecting six Skyline Rookie of the Week selections and one honorable mention recognition throughout the season. The freshman also secured a spot on the All-Skyline First Team. She tallied 402 kills, 257 digs, 90 service aces, 23 blocks, and nine assists across 96 sets. She led the conference in points (508), kills (402), and service aces (90), while ranking third in hitting percentage (.275). Nationally, Combs ranked first in aces per set (.94), second in total service aces (90), fourth in points (508), fifth in points per set (5.29), seventh in total kills (402), 15th in kills per set (4.19), and 41st in total attacks (975).
Perkins was named Skyline Libero of the Year after earning four Libero of the Week selections and one honorable mention recognition. She recorded 424 digs, 75 assists, 30 service aces, and six kills across 86 sets, earning a spot on the All-Skyline First Team. Perkins led the conference in total digs (424) and ranked second in digs per set (4.93). In the five-set victory at FDU-Florham, she tied the program record with 44 digs in a single match.
Vataj capped an outstanding junior campaign by earning Skyline Player of the Year honors, two years after being named the conference's Rookie of the Year in 2024. She also earned a place on the All-Skyline First Team after collecting three Player of the Week selections and one honorable mention recognition throughout the season. Vataj ranked second in the conference in kills (399), kills per set (4.16), points (447), and points per set (4.66). She also ranked seventh in digs (285) and 11th in digs per set (2.97). Nationally, she ranked ninth in total kills (399), 13th in total attacks (1,076), 17th in kills per set (4.16) and total points (447), 18th in points per set (4.66), and 19th in attacks per set (11.21).
Junior Jenna Lehnhart was named to the All-Skyline Sportsmanship Team for the first Skyline honor of her career.
The Gryphons return to action on Thursday, November 12, for the Skyline Conference Semifinals at 7:00 p.m. inside the Campbell Sports Center. Sarah Lawrence will face the winner of the first-round matchup between No. 4 Manhattanville and No. 5 Mount Saint Mary.
