Six earn all-conference volleyball honors
Merle named freshman of the year
At the conclusion of a historic season for the Colby Community College volleyball program, six Trojans received All-Jayhawk West recognition.
Freshmen Kyndal Bacon and Alex Merle were named to the first team. Merle also collected Freshman of the Year honors. Sophomore Julie Archer and freshman Milica Djukic made the second team, and sophomores Nina Gorgijevska and Kristina Mamic received honorable mention.
Bacon was second in the western division and eighth nationally with 10.27 assists per set. She had 1006 assists, 277 digs, 71 blocks and 42 aces. During the season, the 5-foot-8 setter from Newton was named player of the week four times.
The 5-foot-9 Merle notched 320 kills and 3.11 kills per set. An outside hitter from Dunkerque, France, she was third with 175 kills in conference play. Defensively she contributed 338 digs.
Twice during the season, right side hitter Archer was named player of the week. In the conference, she finished second with 182 kills and totaled 354 on the season. The line for the 5-foot-9 Andale native's career includes 725 kills, 52 aces, 463 digs and 107 blocks.
Djukic had 118 blocks on the season. She led the conference with 1.22 blocks per set, ranking 11th nationally. The 6-foot middle blocker from Belgrade, Serbia, also contributed 208 kills and 2.14 kills per set.
During the season Gorgijevska, a 5-foot-7 libero from Potsdam, Germany, earned player of the week honors twice. She was third in the Jayhawk with 244 digs and tallied 489 overall. In two years for the Trojans, she was player of the week four times and totaled 1025 digs and 75 aces.
The 6-foot-3 Mamic had a conference-best 55 block assists and was second with 1.27 blocks per set. The outside hitter from Zagreb, Croatia, completed her Trojan career with 181 blocks and 345 kills.
As a team, the Trojans advanced to the region semifinals for the third consecutive year. They had 27 wins and ended the season ranked 15th nationally, both program highs. In September Head Coach Carey Jones collected her 200th win.