Women’s Volleyball Earns 4 Spots on All-Region Teams, Player Of The Year, And Coach Of The Year
SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, VA – The Richard Bland College of William and Mary Women's Volleyball team sits at 30-3 overall after defeating Fayetteville Technical Community College in the Region 10 Division II Semifinals, and Cape Fear Community College in the Region 10 Division II Championship this afternoon, to punch their ticket the NJCAA National Tournament in Cedar Rapids, IA for the second year in a row. Prior to the start of the tournament, Richard Bland women's volleyball landed four spots on the Division II All-Region teams, Player of the Year, and Coach of the Year honors for the success this season.
Karagyn Durco, Hailey Hopkins and Sarah Heath earned 1st team honors, while Leilani Goggin earned 2nd team. Durco has also earned Division II East Player of the Year and Region 10 Player of the Year.
Sophomore, setter Karagyn Durco garnered 28 kills, 1,141 assists, and 81 service aces in 98 sets played. Durco averaged 11.64 assists per set and holds a 0.83 service ace average per set. Durco has also chipped in with 176 digs and one block.
Sophomore, middle blocker Hailey Hopkins leads the team with 287 kills out of 530 attack attempts for a 3.02 kills per set average and a .413 attack percentage. In 95 sets played, Hopkins has also managed eight digs and 22 blocks managing a 0.87 block per set average.
Freshman, outside hitter Sarah Heath is the second leading attacker with 263 kills out of 661 attack attempts for a 2.83 kills per set average and a .245 attacking percentage. In 93 sets played, Heath has also managed 34 service aces, 164 digs and two blocks.
Freshman, outside hitter and middle blocker Leilani Goggin tallied 243 kills out of 475 attempts for a 2.73 kills per set average and a .385 attacking percentage. In 89 sets played, Goggin has also managed 33 digs, 16 service aces, and two blocks.
First year head Coach, Stephanie Dryden was voted as the Coach of the Year by her peers for the 2022 season. Dryden led the team to an undefeated conference season, and a 27-3 overall record to advance to the Region 10 tournament this weekend. The women's volleyball team is currently nationally ranked #6 for the past two weeks, prior to being at #5 for three weeks in a row.
With the championship win, the #6 nationally ranked Statesmen have been named the Southeast District A Champion and receive an automatic bid to the national tournament. The NJCAA DII Women's Volleyball Tournament will be played at the Alliant Energy Powerhouse in Cedar Rapids, IA on November 17-19, 2022.