COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo senior outside hitter Caelyn Gunn is the 2025 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Year, spearheading the 2025 All-RMAC Volleyball Teams released Thursday.

The ThunderWolves also saw junior Elena Stankovic earn the Setter of the Year award, while Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Alyssa Boyte and Karyna Werley were named the league’s Defensive Player and Freshman of the Year, respectively. University of Colorado Colorado Springs head coach Tara Hittle is the RMAC Coach of the Year, rounding out the major award winners for the 2025 season.

The All-RMAC teams and awards are selected by the league’s 15 head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for themselves or their own players.

Gunn, a senior from Denton, Texas, made an immediate impact in her first season in the RMAC, ultimately earning the conference’s Player of the Year honor. She consistently ranked among the league’s best in several major statistical categories, including kills and points. Gunn finished the year with 364 kills (4.00 per set), ranking second in the RMAC and 19th in Division II. She also tallied 400.5 points (4.40 per set), good for second in the conference and 29th in the nation. Among her standout performances this season, she posted 29 kills against UCCS, setting a CSU Pueblo single-match record. With Gunn leading the charge, the ThunderWolves posted a 19-7 overall record (11-3 RMAC) and secured the No. 3 seed in the 2025 RMAC Volleyball Championship.

Boyte claims the Defensive Player of the Year award after another exceptional season anchoring the Roadrunners’ defensive unit. The sophomore dominated at the net, leading the RMAC in total blocks (106) and blocks per set (1.14), with her block total ranking 36th nationally. With Boyte at the forefront of MSU Denver’s defensive efforts, the Roadrunners held opponents to the fewest assists (880 / 9.46 per set), kills (967 / 10.40 per set), and service aces (80 / 0.86 per set) in the conference. They also limited opponents to the RMAC’s third-lowest hitting percentage at .159. When she wasn’t leading the defense, Boyte was getting it done offensively, as she holds the seventh-best hitting percentage in the conference at .340.

Stankovic orchestrated the ThunderWolves’ offense with remarkable consistency throughout the 2025 regular season, earning her the Setter of the Year award. The Cajetina, Serbia, native ranked second in the RMAC in total assists, dishing out 818 (9.62 per set), and finished sixth in the conference with 30 service aces. Her assist total also placed her 42nd in Division II. Over the course of the season, Stankovic earned three RMAC Setter of the Week honors. Two of her standout performances came against UCCS, where she set a new career high with 58 assists, and against Adams State, where she nearly recorded a triple-double with 39 assists, 11 kills, and nine digs.

Werley, a freshman from Albuquerque, New Mexico, made an immediate impact in her debut season, earning RMAC Freshman of the Year honors. She ranked tenth in the conference in assists with 529 (5.69 per set) and posted one of the league’s top hitting percentages, finishing fourth in the RMAC at .348. Werley helped power one of the conference’s most explosive offenses, with the Roadrunners leading the RMAC in points (1709 / 18.38 per set), hitting percentage (.286), assists (1226 / 13.18 per set), and kills (1340 / 14.41 per set).

Hittle has been named the 2025 Coach of the Year after leading a remarkable turnaround for the Mountain Lions. Last season, UCCS finished 11-5 (5-9 RMAC) and missed the 2024 RMAC Volleyball Championship. This year, however, Hittle led the program to a dominant 24-2 overall record (13-1 RMAC), earning a share of the RMAC regular-season title and securing the No. 2 seed in the 2025 RMAC Championship. The Mountain Lions’ 24 victories mark a new program record, and their 12 home wins also set a new single-season high.

2025 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Volleyball Award Winners

Player of the Year: Caelyn Gunn, CSU Pueblo
Defensive Player of the Year: Alyssa Boyte, MSU Denver
Setter of the Year: Elena Stankovic, CSU Pueblo
Freshman of the Year: Karyna Werley, MSU Denver
Coach of the Year: Tara Hittle, UCCS