VESTAL, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – Volleyball season may have ended months ago but there were still accomplishments to celebrate on Monday at BU.

A recognition ceremony was held at the Events Center to celebrate the efforts of one Bearcat, who accomplished something that prior to this season, nobody in Binghamton Volleyball history had ever done.

Tsvetelina Ilieva was named an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Honorable Mention All-American after a phenomenal first season in a Bearcats uniform.

“It’s unbelievable,” Ilieva said. “I keep saying it and it may sound kind of boring, but it is unbelievable. Because, I just go out there and just play my game, you know? Just play volleyball with the girls that I love and for the team that I absolutely adore.”

How did she find out this unbeleivable news?

It was while eating breakfast at a diner, with a text message from John Hartrick, from the BU Athletics Communications department.

“The whole diner heard me scream,” Ilieva said. “I dropped everything, and I went, and I checked, and my name was there. And I called coach, and I was like, ‘Coach, what?’ It was awesome.”

This accomplishment comes in Ilieva’s first year in a Bearcat uniform.

Also in her first year at BU, Head Coach Allie Yaeger, who has a close bond with Ilieva.

“I mean, she’s like my child, she really is,” Yaeger said. “When you’re a coach you do this for so long and you have very special players that come into your life, and she is definitely one of them.”

One of the reasons the two are so close is that Ilieva played for Yaeger at Seton Hall through 2021.

When Yaeger took the job at Binghamton, Ilieva transferred to BU and became a Bearcat as well.

“When she told me that she’s gonna leave Seton Hall, it wasn’t a matter of if I’m going with her,” Ilieva said. “It was a matter of where are we going? Because I chose Seton Hall because of her, because I wanted to play for her and going to Binghamton, honestly, was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

Ilieva thanked many others, including her teammates.

Saying they are a team of All-Americans because she wouldn’t have been able to do this without them.

An accomplishment that collectively, sends a message going into next season.

“We’re coming for you, and you know that,” Ilieva said. “And next year, it’s not done, it’s not done. Next year we’re going for the ring.”

Ilieva also made sure to thank her family and everyone at BU athletics for all the support.

She still has two years left at BU to accomplish that goal of winning an America East title.