CORVALLIS, Ore. – The 2021 Cascade Collegiate Conference Women’s Volleyball postseason awards were announced Thursday by the conference office.
No. 8-ranked Corban University’s Avari Ridgway was named the WVT Laboratory Player of the Year, with the Warrior coach Kim McLain being selected as the Coach of the Year. Southern Oregon University’s Hailey Van Well picked up the Freshman of the Year honor and Bushnell University’s Callie Wilkins and Makenna Northern were named the Libero and Setter of the Year, respectively. The Evergreen State College earned the Les Schwab Team Sportsmanship Award.
McLain led Corban to a record-setting start to the year where the Warriors won 19-straight matches and climbed as high as No. 5 in the NAIA rankings. Recently, Corban won its second-ever CCC Regular-Season Championship, finishing the 2021 regular-season with a 26-2 overall and 20-2 record in CCC action. As a team, the Warriors boast the best hitting percentage in the conference at .275, while also holding opponents to a conference-best .104 clip.
Ridgway, a junior outside hitter from McMinnville, Ore., heads into the postseason boasting a .311 attack percentage (third in the CCC) with 3.28 kills per set. She has been a threat to opponents defensively as well as she has collected 243 digs and 63 blocks.
Van Well, a redshirt freshman from Dallas, Ore., made an impact for the Raiders in her collegiate debut, averaging 3.60 kills per set (third in the CCC, 40
th in the NAIA) on a .280 attack percentage (eighth in the CCC). She posted a career-high 23 kills against Northwest University.
Wilkins, a senior libero from Happy Valley, Ore., helped the Beacons – who are receiving votes in the latest NAIA Coaches Poll – advance to the CCC Volleyball Tournament Semifinals, presented by U.S. Bank. She sits second in the conference and 79
th nationally with 4.56 digs per set. Wilkins also is a threat at the line with 34 aces so far, averaging 0.39 aces per set (sixth in the CCC).
Northern, a junior setter from Brownsville, Ore., has been a pivotal part of the Beacons’ success this year. She has 928 assists on the year, averaging a conference-best 10.57 assists per set (16
th in the NAIA). She became just the second Beacon ever to collect 3000 career assists earlier this year and had a career-high 58 assists in a five-set battle on the road at the Geoducks.
The regular-season champions saw eight Warriors earn all-conference recognition, including two first-teamers.
The full list of the 2021 CCC All-Conference team can be found
here.