Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina volleyball juniors Katie Boney and Eda Yalçinkaya, and sophomores Halley Tang and Courtney Graham were each named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team on Tuesday afternoon, selected among an elite list of NCAA Division I student-athletes.
Boney earned her second selection to the CSC Academic All-District team, while WCU's remaining trio collected their first honors.
The 2025 Academic All-District® Volleyball Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators (CSC), recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes volleyball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA. Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. First, second, and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced on Jan. 13, 2026.
Katie Boney, a junior setter, carries a 3.83 cumulative grade point average as a management major in the classroom. Assuming the primary setter role entering the 2025 season, Boney was a mainstay among the nation's leaders in assists and assists per set throughout the year. She recorded 1,000 assists through the regular season, pacing the team as she filled the stat sheet throughout the year, tallying 40 or more assists nine times with nine double-doubles, including a career-high 64 helpers in a five-set battle against Chattanooga on Oct. 9.
A product of Brookhaven, Ga., Boney was recognized as the Southern Conference Setter of the Year. She earned five SoCon Setter of the Week honors in the fall, the first Catamount to garner back-to-back weekly honors from the league since 2019, when Meagan Sanchez received three straight awards. She was also the first Catamount to earn multiple weekly setter plaudits since the spring 2021 season, when Hannah Price received two awards. She is a multi-time honoree on the SoCon Academic Honor Roll and the Commissioner's Medal, and Tuesday's honor is her second CSC recognition.
Junior libero Eda Yalçinkaya carries a 3.80 cumulative grade point average as a business administration and law major. She made 23 starts throughout 2025, serving as the squad's libero throughout most of those starts for the Purple & Gold. Originally from Istanbul, Turkey, Yalcinkaya was one of four Catamounts to appear in all 104 sets throughout the campaign. She tallied a team-best 397 digs, eclipsing the 20-dig plateau five times, with a season-high 26 coming in a five-set comeback win over Bradley.
Yalcinkaya surpassed the 1,000-dig plateau in regular-season action against chromatic rival Furman back in October. She also added 62 assists and 10 service aces to her seasonal stat line. She earned a pair of SoCon Academic Honor Roll honors in her career, while also earning the commissioner's medal last year as a sophomore.
Sophomore libero Halley Tang boasts a 4.0 cumulative GPA and received her first CSC honor as an integrated health science major, with a pre-professional concentration in pre-med. She received the SoCon Commissioner's Medal honors along with SoCon Academic Honor Roll during her debut season in Cullowhee.
Tang made 16 starts throughout the 2025 season, including a host of starts as the WCU libero as she appeared in 103 of a possible 104 sets for the Catamounts across all 29 matches, one of eight in the Purple & Gold to reach that mark. She joined Yalcinkaya with more than 300 digs as the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. native recorded 302 digs with 17 matches with double-digit digs, including a career-best 24 coming against Samford on the road. Tang also added 33 assists and 17 service aces to her seasonal stat line.
Sophomore middle blocker Courtney Graham holds a 3.75 cumulative grade point average, as she received her first career CSC honor after garnering SoCon Academic Honor Roll honors following her freshman season with WCU as an integrated health sciences major.
Graham started 28 matches over the Catamounts' 29-game schedule, seeing action in 103 of a possible 104 sets. She appeared in all 29 matches, one of eight in the Purple & Gold to reach that mark. Graham was a mainstay on the WCU block, finishing fourth in the league with 118 stops, with 25 of those being solo stops. The Alpharetta, Ga. native finished in a tie for 10th in the single-season program record book for rejections. She also added 190 kills and 23 digs for the Catamounts.
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