VGCC’s Reese and Edwards receive volleyball honors
Two members of the Vance-Granville Community College women’s volleyball team were recently recognized by coaches in National Junior College Athletic Association Region X, as the Vanguards finished the winningest season in program history and scored two number-one statistical rankings in Division III.
Kara Reese of Henderson (pictured above, left) was named to the All-Region X Second Team, while Jesse Edwards of Henderson (pictured above, right) received an Honorable Mention for the All-Region team. Reese is a student in the VGCC Radiography program. Edwards is a College Transfer student with plans to apply to the Associate Degree Nursing program, and is also a Nurse Aide I student.
Reese was also an outstanding player on the national level. At the end of the regular season, she was ranked number one in the nation for Division III in blocks per set (1.66) and number two for solo blocks (120). She was ranked 15th for kills per set (3.51), 32nd for total kills (256) as well, and 41st in the nation for hitting percentage (.292). Other Vanguards in the national top 50 statistics were Melissa Elliott of Townsville, who was 28th in assists per set (7.07) and Rachel Thomas of Louisburg, who was 41st in digs per set (4.14).
Led by Reese, VGCC as a team ranked first in the nation in blocks (283) and in blocks per set (3.46), as well as seventh in hitting percentage (.292).
VGCC took a 10-13 regular-season record (4-10 in conference play) into the Region X conference tournament, held Oct. 23-24 at Sandhills Community College. As the seventh seed, the Vanguards fell to number-two seed Sandhills in the first round. Patrick Henry Community College, the number-one seed, went on to win the conference tournament.
“I am very proud of how hard our young ladies worked in the week leading up to the Region X tournament, sacrificing early mornings and afternoons to get extra practice time in so we would be ready,” VGCC Coach Christopher Young said. “We went into the tournament looking to make it to the finals and played like we deserved to be there. Playing against the second-seeded Sandhills was the toughest challenge in our eyes. Led by Kara, Jesse and Kiyanna Kearney, we played point-for-point with Sandhills in the second and third sets but eventually were edged out by a few points.”
Looking back on his second season as coach, Young added: “I could not have asked for our season to turn out much better, considering the injuries which plagued the team throughout the season. The players stuck together and fought hard for each match, no matter what lineup we put on the court.” He said that, in addition to Edwards and Kearney, freshmen Melissa Elliott and Morgan Carter plan to return next year, joining new recruits as the Vanguards look to improve upon their 10-win 2015 campaign.
