FLORENCE, SC – Francis Marion University junior outside hitter Madilyn Gartner has been named the winner of the Builder Services of North Carolina Conference Carolinas 2025 Elite 26 Award for the sport of women's volleyball. The award was presented on Friday evening at the league tournament championship site.

A native of Albertville, Minn., Gartner holds a perfect 4.00 grade point average as a biology major. She is the first Francis Marion women's volleyball player to earn the academic accolade in program history.

Gartner was voted the Conference Carolinas Player of the Year following a breakout junior campaign, which led the Patriots to the top of the Conference Carolinas. She ranks 12th in NCAA Division II and paces the league with 437 total kills, while being the only player in the conference averaging over 4.00 kills per set. Gartner tallied seven kill/dig double-doubles in 2025, including three matches with at least 20 kills. She also garnered All-Conference Carolinas First-Team honors and was named the Conference Carolinas Player of the Week three times this season.

She been named to the FMU Swamp Fox Athletic-Academic Honor Roll and the Conference Carolinas Presidential Honor Roll in all four semesters at Francis Marion.

The Elite 26 Award honors Conference Carolinas student-athletes with the highest cumulative grade-point average at their respective championship site. The award is modeled after the NCAA's Elite Scholar-Athlete Award.

Gartner is a product of St. Michael-Albertville High School.


   Madilyn Gartner