Gators’ Jordyn Byrd Added to AVCA Player of the Year Watchlist

Florida outside hitter Jordyn Byrd notched a place on the 2025 American Volleyball Coaches Association Division 1 Player of the Year Award Watchlist Thursday. After a list of 30 was chosen by the AVCA in July, 17 more collegiate players received this recognition.

The Sarasota native began her college career at Texas, redshirting her first year and not seeing action last year. As a redshirt sophomore, Byrd made an impact at Florida right away, leading the team in kills (170) and total attacks (434). She sits fifth in the SEC with 4.56 kills per set and seventh with 4.94 points per set.

She tallied over 20 kills in three matches this season, including against Pittsburgh in the second match of the season. Contributing to the Gators’ five-set win, Byrd nailed 23 kills and just 11 errors on her career-high 60 total attacks. She also earned a place on the 2025 All-First Serve Team for her performance. 

In Florida’s five-set win over Baylor at home, Byrd tallied 21 kills on a 45.9% hitting clip. She saw her career-high 24 kills Sunday in a bounce-back four-set win for the Gators over Alabama.

Byrd has only one match with single-digit kills. On Sept. 2 against USF, she had just eight kills on 33 attacks and a 12.1% hitting percentage.

The semi-finalists for the award will be announced mid-November and finalists likely on Dec. 15. The winner will be crowned at the AVCA Awards Banquet on Dec. 19 in Kansas City, Missouri, the location of the 2025 NCAA Volleyball Championship.

The No. 23 Gators face Auburn (11-2) Friday at 7 p.m. to wrap up a three-match stretch at home. Listen live on 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF.

Category: Gators Volleyball, NCAA, SEC, Volleyball