Emily Burns Named WSC Player of the Year & All-State to Headline All-Conference Class

College of the Canyons sophomore outside hitter Emily Burns has been named the Western State Conference, South Division Player of the Year in addition to earning a spot on the 2017 California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) All-State Team. Her selection highlights a class of seven Cougars that earned All-Conference accolades this season.

Burns follows in the footsteps of former Cougars Emily Bible (2015) and Serena LeDuff (2013 & 2014) who also brought home Player of the Year honors in recent years. She is the sixth Player of the Year honoree in program history, and first under COC head coach Clay Timmons. 

The former Valencia High School standout helped lead the Cougars to a 22-5 regular season record and 7-1 conference mark, resulting in a co-conference championship with Bakersfield College. The title was the program's fourth in the last five years (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017).

Canyons is currently in the midst of an extended postseason run, with the Cougars having recently clinched a trip to the 2017 CCCAA Women's Volleyball State Championship Tournament.

The state tourney appearance is just the third in program history, with COC previously competing in the event during the 2007 and 2015 seasons.

Heading into the state championship, Burns has tallied an impressive 469 kills through 29 matches to rank third in the state, good for an average of 4.64 kills per set which ranks fourth. Both numbers are tops in the conference.

Additionally, her. 345 hitting percentage is 19th in the state. Burns is also tied for seventh in the state with 67 aces, placing her third in the conference. 

COC sophomore setter Rachel Perez and sophomore libero Demi Dawson, who both prepped at Valencia High School alongside Burns, were also named All-WSC First Team honorees.

Perez leads the state with 1,079 assists through 28 matches, good for a mark of 11.01 per game to rank second. Both numbers represented the conference's top marks. She also added 53 aces, 40 kills and 202 digs along the way.

Dawson also found herself included among the statewide statistical leaders with her 78 aces, which rank second in the state and first in the conference. Likewise, for Dawson's 371 digs which was the best mark in conference.

COC freshman outside hitter Caroline Page and freshman middle blocker Toni Bido both earned All-WSC Second Team designations.

Page ranks third on the team with 228 kills through 26 matches, while her 54 aces are third best. The freshman also added 259 digs to trail Dawson for the team lead.

Bido is fourth on the Cougars with 177 kills and third with 54 combined blocks. She also led the team with a .368 hitting percentage.

Sophomore middle blocker Morgan Ferguson and freshman outside hitter Shayla Johnson were both Honorable Mention selections.

Ferguson is fourth on the Cougars with 108 kills, while her 92 total blocks are fifth in the state and best in the conference.

Johnson was second on the squad behind Burns with 237 kills to go with 32 aces and 231 digs.

The 2017 CCCAA Women's Volleyball State Championship will be held Dec. 1-3 at Solano Community College in Fairfield, Calif. The eight-team, single elimination tourney will include four qualifiers from both the Northern California and Southern California regions.

Canyons (24-5) will be joined by Irvine Valley College (24-0), Mira Costa College (26-6), and San Diego City College (23-3) in representing the south.

Cabrillo College (29-1), Feather River College (26-7), San Joaquin Delta (23-4) and Folsom Lake College (24-4) will represent the northern region.

The Cougars are scheduled to face Feather River at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2 in opening round tournament action, with that game scheduled to be live streamed via SoCalCollegeSports.com. A full state championship tournament bracket and schedule can be found here.

Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. 

—Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information