INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) has released their GLVC All-Conference honors for the 2024-25 season on Wednesday, March 5th. Four individual McKendree players garnered a combined five placements on the official list.
Sophomore forward Baylie Parks (Lake Zurich, Ill.) was named to the All-GLVC First Team after collecting three of the team's four GLVC Player of the Week honors this season, including the final selections that were made this Monday. Parks led the conference in scoring with 19.7 points per game by a 1.5 margin on a seventh-best 49.2 field goal percentage. Her rebounding (including both offensively and defensively) also ranked first in the GLVC by a 2.2 margin. She was even 10th in the conference in assisting (2.7), fourth in stealing (2.2), and seventh in blocking (1.1).
To an even greater scale, Parks has shown up highly on the national leaderboards, placing 17th in the country along with a 16th-best total of 14 double-doubles in the 26 games played. Just like in conference play, her 10.7 total rebounds per game and 7.5 defensive rebounds per game each rank 16th and 13th in the entire nation respectively. Parks did not at any point this season score under 11 points, reaching the 20-point plateau 10 times and has grabbed 15+ rebounds six times. Her 17 rebounds corralled at Quincy University on February 20th remains the GLVC-best game total this season.
Named to the second team All-GLVC was senior guard Clare Breden (Jerseyville, Ill.). Being out with an injury down the final stretch of the season, she did not miss her opportunity to shine night in and night out when on the court. When healthy, she would drop a team second-best 14.5 points per game while tying for first on the squad on assisting at 3.4 and posting the second-best steals per contest at 1.6. She made the 14th-most made free throws (79) out of anybody in the conference.
As Breden's career has come to a close, she went out on the record [books] this season in several statistical categories. The former first and third All-GLVC selection now sits at the top of the program's leaderboard within the NCAA Division II era in total points (1,431), total field goals made (485), total free throws made (357), total free throws attempted (467), total games played (113), and total minutes played (3,370).
Earning her way into a double-honor selection was none-other than freshman forward Kyra Taylor (Davenport, Iowa) who was named to the All-GLVC Third Team along with being placed on the All-Freshman team. She found her way into the starting lineup before the midway point of the season as she scored a team third-best 11.9 points per game as she scored in double-figures in 15 total games and in 12 of the last 14.
Taylor's 12.9 points in conference play alone puts her at 15th in the GLVC, along with a third-best field goal percentage of 53.8%.
Rounding out the team's honors collection was sophomore guard Emma Slings (Polk City, Iowa), who was selected as McKendree's recipient of the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award. The 15 student-athletes named to the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Team earned the honor because they have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior during the 2024-25 season. The individuals named must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school's two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.
Head Coach Kari Kerkhoff said the following on the recognized players:
"We are incredibly proud of our ladies for earning All-Conference and All-Freshman Team honors. Their dedication, hard work, and commitment to excellence have been evident all season, they did a tremendous job dealing with adversity this season. These accolades are a testament to their relentless effort and the support of their teammates. We're excited to see them continue to grow and lead our program forward."
Below is the complete list of GLVC honorees for the 2024-25 season:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Taylor Gugliuzza, Lewis
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Katelynne Roberts, Missouri S&T
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Lindsey Schadewalt, Maryville
CHUCK MALLENDER COACH OF THE YEAR: Courtney Boyd, Quincy
FIRST TEAM ALL-GLVC
Caitlynn Daniels, Drury
Rhi Gibbons, Drury
Jenna Badali, Lewis
Taylor Gugliuzza, Lewis
Gracie Stugart, Maryville
Baylie Parks, McKendree
Anna Finley, Missouri S&T
Nicole McDermott, Quincy
Jordan Cunningham, Truman State
Mia Huberty, Upper Iowa
SECOND TEAM ALL-GLVC
Kayla Rice, Illinois-Springfield
Patricia Chikamba, Indianapolis
Ally Cesarini, Lewis
Lindsey Schadewalt, Maryville
Clare Breden, McKendree
Katelynne Roberts, Missouri S&T
Alex Wolff, Missouri-St. Louis
Cymirah Williams, Quincy
Keegan Sullivan, Rockhurst
Molly Joyce, Truman State
THIRD TEAM ALL-GLVC
Makaiya Brooks, Drury
Anna Hitt, Drury
Cierra McNamee, Lewis
Claire Rake, Maryville
Kyra Taylor, McKendree
Katie Hamill, Missouri-St. Louis
Kate Rolfes, Missouri-St. Louis
Mariann Blass, Quincy
Tori Hamilton, Southwest Baptist
Kayla Bohr, Upper Iowa
GLVC ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Yahaira Bueno, Lewis
Lindsey Schadewalt, Maryville
Kyra Taylor, McKendree
Katie Hamill, Missouri-St. Louis
Kirsten Hauck, William Jewell
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Gabby Burns, Drury
Niyah Udiowod, Illinois-Springfield
Amyrah Sapenter, Indianapolis
Katlyn Allen, Lewis
Casen Lawrence, Lincoln (Mo.)
Katlyn Allen, Maryville
Emma Slings, McKendree
Morgan Luebbering, Missouri S&T
Brooke Woodyard, Missouri-St. Louis
Taya Stevenson, Quincy
Rebeca Garcia, Rockhurst
Bianca Oliver, Southwest Baptist
Kaitlyn Patke, Truman State
Amelia Valentino, Upper Iowa
Bree Shannon, William Jewell
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD TEAM WINNER
William Jewell
UP NEXT
The 2025-26 season schedule will be expected to be released in the fall of 2025.
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