OPSU Athletics Bestows Athlete of the Year Honors Upon Kagiali, Zeller at Aggie Awards
April 28, 2026
GOODWELL, Okla. Volleyball outside hitter Elena Kagiali and football wide receiver/returner David Zeller were awarded the 2025-26 OPSU Athletics Department's highest individual honors of Female and Male Athlete of the Year, respectively, at the annual Aggie Awards ceremony Monday night.
Overall, nine major awards were handed out by OPSU Athletics to individuals and teams, and an additional 18 Aggie Awards were given to athletes (one from each team) for demonstrating high character and athletic achievement.
Female Athlete of the Year: Kagiali's historic year with Aggie volleyball was recognized Monday night, with the Sooner Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year, Attacker of the Year, and Player of the Year gaining the honor as the Aggies' 2025-26 Female Athlete of the Year. Kagiali, who led the volleyball team to its best postseason finish as a member of the SAC, was named the SAC Attacker of the Week four times and NAIA Attacker of the Week once, all en route to breaking program records for kills in a single match and single season, as well as being named a Third-Team NAIA All-American and member of the College Sports Communicators Second-Team Academic All-America.
Male Athlete of the Year: Zeller took home top male honors as a freshman for OPSU football following his outstanding season as a kick returner and wide receiver. The Austria native was named the Sooner Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Week from Sept. 29-Oct. 5 after he recorded the first kickoff return touchdown of his season at Wayland Baptist. Zeller was later named the SAC Special Teams Player of the Year and First Team All-SAC after he led the nation in yards per kickoff return. As a receiver, Zeller also played a huge role in the downfield passing game by hauling in eight catches for 240 yards and three scores.
Scholar Athletes of the Year: Softball's Aaliyah Dang-Gutierrez and baseball's Alejandro Hernandez collected OPSU's top academic honors for 2025-26 student-athletes, based on their posting the department's highest GPAs among women and men, respectively.
Team Academic Excellence Award: Women's basketball claimed Panhandle State's Team Academic Excellence honor by having the highest team GPA at 3.59 during the season.
Newcomer of the Year Awards: The best-performing new faces for OPSU Athletics in 2025-26 were recognized as volleyball's Kagiali and baseball shortstop Genesis Nunez for their incredible debut seasons with the Aggies.
Freshman of the Year Awards: True freshmen honored as having the most wonderful starts to their collegiate careers throughout the 2025-26 seasons were women's basketball center Tryssa Dowd and football's Zeller.
Aggie Team Award Winners
Baseball | Genesis Nunez
Men's Basketball | Mike Carter
Women's Basketball | Tryssa Dowd
Men's Cross Country | Joshua Samaron
Women's Cross Country | Carolina Valenzuela
Football | Loren Snead
Men's Golf | Worathan Thammachokecharoen
Men's Soccer | Othman Gherab
Women's Soccer | Emily Chavez
Softball | Marin Jacobs
Men's Track & Field | Austin White
Women's Track & Field | Breyanna Kemp
Volleyball | Elena Kagiali
Cheer | Aracely Duran
Equestrian | Eva Johnson
Men's Rodeo | Riley Stark
Women's Rodeo | Helen Poer
Shooting Sports | Cameron Smith
OPSU Honors Page
Overall, nine major awards were handed out by OPSU Athletics to individuals and teams, and an additional 18 Aggie Awards were given to athletes (one from each team) for demonstrating high character and athletic achievement.
Female Athlete of the Year: Kagiali's historic year with Aggie volleyball was recognized Monday night, with the Sooner Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year, Attacker of the Year, and Player of the Year gaining the honor as the Aggies' 2025-26 Female Athlete of the Year. Kagiali, who led the volleyball team to its best postseason finish as a member of the SAC, was named the SAC Attacker of the Week four times and NAIA Attacker of the Week once, all en route to breaking program records for kills in a single match and single season, as well as being named a Third-Team NAIA All-American and member of the College Sports Communicators Second-Team Academic All-America.
Male Athlete of the Year: Zeller took home top male honors as a freshman for OPSU football following his outstanding season as a kick returner and wide receiver. The Austria native was named the Sooner Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Week from Sept. 29-Oct. 5 after he recorded the first kickoff return touchdown of his season at Wayland Baptist. Zeller was later named the SAC Special Teams Player of the Year and First Team All-SAC after he led the nation in yards per kickoff return. As a receiver, Zeller also played a huge role in the downfield passing game by hauling in eight catches for 240 yards and three scores.
Scholar Athletes of the Year: Softball's Aaliyah Dang-Gutierrez and baseball's Alejandro Hernandez collected OPSU's top academic honors for 2025-26 student-athletes, based on their posting the department's highest GPAs among women and men, respectively.
Team Academic Excellence Award: Women's basketball claimed Panhandle State's Team Academic Excellence honor by having the highest team GPA at 3.59 during the season.
Newcomer of the Year Awards: The best-performing new faces for OPSU Athletics in 2025-26 were recognized as volleyball's Kagiali and baseball shortstop Genesis Nunez for their incredible debut seasons with the Aggies.
Freshman of the Year Awards: True freshmen honored as having the most wonderful starts to their collegiate careers throughout the 2025-26 seasons were women's basketball center Tryssa Dowd and football's Zeller.
Aggie Team Award Winners
Baseball | Genesis Nunez
Men's Basketball | Mike Carter
Women's Basketball | Tryssa Dowd
Men's Cross Country | Joshua Samaron
Women's Cross Country | Carolina Valenzuela
Football | Loren Snead
Men's Golf | Worathan Thammachokecharoen
Men's Soccer | Othman Gherab
Women's Soccer | Emily Chavez
Softball | Marin Jacobs
Men's Track & Field | Austin White
Women's Track & Field | Breyanna Kemp
Volleyball | Elena Kagiali
Cheer | Aracely Duran
Equestrian | Eva Johnson
Men's Rodeo | Riley Stark
Women's Rodeo | Helen Poer
Shooting Sports | Cameron Smith
OPSU Honors Page
