GOLDEN NAMED FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR; 5 DRAGONS ALL-KJCCC
CLICK FOR COMPLETE 2022 ALL-JAYHAWK WEST/ALL-REGION VI VOLLEYBALL TEAMS
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Five Hutchinson Community College Volleyball players were selected to the 2022 All-Jayhawk West and 2022 All-Region VI teams on Monday with one Blue Dragon earning one of the league's major individual awards.
Freshman Taniya Golden was named the Jayhawk West Freshman of the Year after the KJCCC released the 2022 all-league teams on Monday. In addition to the Freshman of the Year award, Golden was the only Blue Dragon named to the Jayhawk West and All-Region VI first team.
The Blue Dragons had three second-team selections in outside hitter Baylee Miller and middle blockers Blondie Penaflor and Anna Dean. Setter Andrea Serrano was an honorable mention selection.
The 2022 Blue Dragons finished the season 26-12 overall and placed third in the Jayhawk West with a 12-4 record. The Blue Dragons had four victories over nationally ranked opponents this season.
TANIYA GOLDEN – Freshman of the Year; 1st Team All-KJCCC/All-Region VI
Golden, a 6-foot freshman outside hitter from Omaha, Nebraska, is the first Blue Dragon player to be named Jayhawk West Freshman of the Year since Paige Hiebert in 2016.
Golden asserted herself as one of top offensive options for the Blue Dragons right away. She debuted with a 13-kill performance against No. 19 Indian Hills and then had 12 kills in an upset of No. 3 Missouri State-West Plains on opening weekend in August.
Down the stretch, Golden was the Blue Dragons' go-to hitter with double-figure kills in 14 of her last 16 matches, including a career-high 26 kills in a Region VI semifinal loss on Friday.
Golden was fourth in the KJCCC in total kills with 416. That mark is the second most ever by a Blue Dragon freshman and 11th most in single-season history.
Golden hit .231 on 1,074 attacks and he averaged 3.13 kills per set. Playing six rotations over the final third of the season, Golden also posted four double-doubles.
Golden had 24 matches with 10 or more kills and hit the 20-kill mark twice with 20 at Seward County and 26 against Butler. Golden had a season-high five blocks against Dodge City and 16 digs against Colby.
BAYLEE MILLER – 2nd Team All-KJCCC/All-Region VI
Miller's season ended two matches too early because of injury and didn't play in the Region VI Tournament.
Miller, a 6-foot sophomore from Wichita, played in 36 matches and 118 sets and hit .223 with 292 kills and 2.47 kills per set. Miller had one double-double this season. Miller dazzled on opening weekend when she had a 24 kills in a five-set win over No. 3 MSU-West Plains and 16 kills in a five-set win over No. 1 Iowa Western.
Miller hit .304 on a career-high 25 kills against Mineral Area.
Miller averaged 1.46 digs, 0.49 blocks and 0.19 aces per set this season.
BLONDIE PENAFLOR – 2nd Team All-KJCCC/All-Region VI
Penaflor, a 5'10 sophomore middle from Las Vegas, becomes a two-time all-KJCCC selection, matching her second-team all-league freshman season.
Penaflor hit .261 on 159 kills, averaging 1.29 kills per set. She had a season-high 10 kills in a four-set win over No. 19 Northeastern Junior College.
Penaflor was the top Blue Dragon blocker with 1.15 blocks per set, which was third-best in the Jayhawk Conference this season. She had 17 solo stuffs and 142 total blocks this season. Penaflor had a career-high 10 blocks in a three-set win over Barton on September 26. Penaflor combined for 17 total blocks in two Region VI Tournament matches.
ANNA DEAN – 2nd Team All-KJCCC/All-Region VI
A 6-foot-1 freshman middle from Oswego, Kansas, had a solid first season with the Blue Dragons.
Dean had a team-high .346 attack average and averaged 1.81 kills per set. Dean had 245 total kills.
She was second on the team in blocks with 111 blocks and 0.82 blocks per set.
Dean had a season-high 14 kills on .500 hitting in a four-set victory over Dodge City. She had seven matches of 10 or more kills. Dean reached a season-high seven kills three times (Clarendon, Seward County and Butler).
ANDREA SERRANO – Honorable Mention All-KJCCC/All-Region VI
The 5'5 sophomore setter from Arecibo, Puerto Rico had a team-high nine double-doubles this season.
Working primarily in a 6-2 offense, Serrano averaged 6.96 assists per set. She had a career-high 37 assists on September 22 in Great Bend. Serrano had eight matches of 30 assists.
Serrano posted a career-high 18 digs against the Bethel College JV and 16 digs against Frank Phillips College.
Serrano was also one of the top servers this season with a team-high 41 service aces, averaging 0.31 assists per set. She had a career-high four aces twice, doing so against the Friends University JV and Barton.