ORANGEBURG, S.C. – South Carolina Athletics held its annual Bulldog Tenacity Awards: The Final Whistle on Monday, April 28 at the Bulldog Student Lounge Center on the Campus of South Carolina State University.
 
The event honored the University's top student-athletes for their accomplishments during the 2025-26 academic year.
 
The Department of Athletics has embarked on yet another successful year performance and on and off the playing field here at SC State University.
 
Academically, many teams have earned an overall TEAM GPA of 3.0 or more, along with over 20+ students earning a 4.0 GPA during the fall semester.
 
While all our teams competed hard this season like Men's & Women's Basketball, Soccer, Volleyball, Track & Field, and Women's Tennis several went on to have championship performances.
Football

• Captured back-to-back MEAC Championships along with their 9th HBCU National Championship and 2nd Cricket Wireless Celebration Bowl HBCU National Title.
• Second-year head coach Chennis Berry earned numerous Coach of the Years honors along with many players earning postseason accolades.
• The Bulldogs ended the season nationally ranked at #21 in the FCS Poll.

Men's Tennis

• Under Championship head coach Hardeep Judge SC State Men's Tennis captured their 21 st league championship and 6th straight in school history. The Bulldogs earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Men's Championship and will take on UCF (Central Florida) Friday at 5 p.m. in Orlando, Florida.

 
2026 Bulldog All Sports Award WINNERS:
Women's Basketball

• Most Outstanding Player - Shaunice Reed
• Senior Award - Mya Byrd
• Bulldog Tenacity Award - Janiah Hinton
• Most Improved Award - Heaven Harper
• Coaches Award - DaH'neisha Blige

Men's Basketball

• Rookie of the Year- Noah Treadwell
• Most Improved – Tim Okjie
• Coaches Award- Jayden Johnson

Women's Soccer

• Most Improved Player - Shannilea Schliffer
• Bulldog Tenacity - Keylaney Gutierrez
• Defensive Most Valuable Player - Kyndall Jenkins
• Offensive Most Valuable Player - Alana Watts

 
Women's Cross CountryWomen's Track and Field
INDOOR;

• MVP Track  - TyQwasia Williams 
• MVP Field  -  Tajhana South
• Newcomer -  Angelina Stabile 
• Coaches Award- Keira Smalls

OUTDOOR;

• MVP Track.  - Nia Singleton 
• MVP Field.   - Tajhana South
• Newcomer   - Tresta Miller
• Coaches Award - Keira Smalls

 
Robert "Jet" Johnson

• (Sydney Cooper)

Donald "The Don" Webster 

• (Kaleese  Burrell)

Earnest Tche' 

• (Naomi Johnson)

Sharonda Coleman-Singleton

• (TyQwaisa Williams)

 
Men's Cross Country

• MVP XC.        - Tinashe Bure
• Newcomer.    - Macaire N'twa

Men's Track and Field
INDOOR

• MVP Track.   - Jameli Thomas 
• MVP Field-Christian Washington 
• Newcomer - Kameron James
• Coaches Award- Isaiah Vertus

OUTDOOR

• MVP Track.    - Tinashe Bure
• MVP Field.     - Robert Carter
• Newcomer.    - Rodney Dewitt
• Coaches Award - Kenton George           

Robert "Jet" Johnson

• (Michael Hopkins)

Donald "The Don" Webster 

• (Isaiah Johnson)

Earnest Tche' 

• (Jacob Alexander)

Sharonda Coleman-Singleton

• (Martin Hare Jr.)

 
Women's Volleyball

• MVP- Kiyah Felder
• Clutch Player- Xaria Pickett
• Defensive Player of the Year- Miya Benson
• Newcomer of the Year- Arianna James
• Bulldog Tenacity- Robyn White
• "DAWG" Mentality- McKinley Roach 

Men's Tennis

• Most Valuable Player: Mikalai Bankou 
• Coaches Award: Vanja Petrov
• Most Improved Player: Iliyas Muratuly 
• Rookie of the Year: Andrii Borodatiuk 

 
Women's Tennis

• Most Valuable Player: Katerina Marsalkova
• Coaches Award: Valeria Teran 
• Most Improved Player: Valeria Teran
• Rookie of the Year: Katerina Marsalkova 

Softball

• Most Valuable Player-Jamaria Charley
•  Pitcher of the Year -Diamond Roundtree
• Bulldog Tenacity Award-Ellanie Yarrell
• Newcomer of the Year -Dallas Hill
• Impact Player of the Year-Lashea Morlu
• Co-Most Improved Player Award-Alyssa Stanford
• Co-Most Improved Player Award-Aaryn Krebs

 
Football

• Overall MVP-  Jared Washington
• Offensive MVP- Jordan Smith
• Defensive MVP-Micheal Lunz II
• Special Teams Player- MVP-Nico Alto
• Newcomer-William Atkins IV
• Leadership-Shon Brown
• Trenchdog-Roger Smith
• Iron Bulldog-Josh Barker

Cheerleaders:

• Most Valuable Cheerleader -Myliondi Bess
• Leadership Award-Hayden Hines
•  Best All Around -Kennedy Cunningham
• Rookie of the Year -Donovan Gamble
• Most Improved-Jameria Garnett

ABOUT SC STATE ATHLETICS 
South Carolina State University is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level intercollegiate athletic program. The university currently fields teams in 14 sports: women's volleyball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's indoor track & field, softball, men's and women's outdoor track and field, women's soccer and football with all teams competing in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), except for women's soccer. 
  
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