Canyons Volleyball Has Six Freshmen Earn All-WSC Honors
COC freshmen Emily Burns and Sam Nua both earned All-WSC First Team honors, with Rachel Perez and Morgan Ferguson named to the Second Team. Liz Baker and Demi Dawson were Honorable Mention selections.
The College of the Canyons women's volleyball team had six players earn All-Western State Conference, South Division honors, after a season in which the Lady Cougars placed second in the conference.
COC freshman opposite hitter Emily Burns and freshman middle blocker Sam Nua were both named All-WSC First Team selections.
Burns finished the 2016 campaign with a team-high 300 kills to also rank second in the conference. Additionally, her mark of 3.7 kills per set was tops in the WSC. Burns also posted a hitting percentage of .361 and recorded 29 aces, 101 digs and five blocks on the year.
Nua registered 192 kills in 21 regular season matches for an average of 2.74 per set, to rank second on the team in both categories. She led the WSC with a .476 hitting percentage, while her 24 aces were fourth on the team. Nua also added 40 digs and 10 blocks to her season stat line.
Earning All-WSC Second Team honors for the Lady Cougars were freshman setter Rachel Perez and freshman setter/middle blocker Morgan Ferguson.
Perez ranked third in the conference with her mark of 778 assists, good for an average of 10.24 per set which also placed her second in the WSC in that category. She added 121 digs and 29 kills, while her 31 aces were second best on the team.
Ferguson played in a team-high 81 sets while splitting time at different positions. She finished the season with 59 kills, 75 assists, five aces, 15 digs and a team-high 11 blocks.
Earning Honorable Mention status for the Cougars was the tandem of freshmen Liz Baker and Demi Dawson who both split time between the defensive specialist/libero positions.
Dawson led the team with 44 aces to also rank ninth in the conference. Her 199 digs and rate of 2.62 digs per set were both team highs.
Baker recorded 22 aces and ranked second on the team with 165 digs.
Canyons (19-6, 6-2) finished second in the WSC, South Division under first year interim head coach Clay Timmons. The Lady Cougars were eliminated from the postseason by Cypress College in the first round of the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern California Regionals.
—Jesse Munoz/COC Sports Information