HICKORY, N.C. — After winning a seventh-straight Region X championship and earning an eighth national tournament bid, the Catawba Valley Community College volleyball team has received four individual league honors.
Red Hawks volleyball players Emma Clark, Emily Williams and Sage Harrington were all named All-Region X first team, while teammate Emilee Webber was named All-Region second team.
Clark was also named the 2018 Region X Player of the Year.
"I am so proud of all of our players and how they worked together to go undefeated again in conference play this year," said CVCC head volleyball coach Shannon Hudson. "It was nice for Emilee, Sage and Emily to be recognized by the Region for their outstanding efforts this season, and how exciting for Emma to be named Region X Player of the Year as a freshman. It's awesome to see her hard work pay off."
Clark becomes just the fifth Red Hawk to win Player of the Year in volleyball, joining a list that includes Francesca Edgerton, Megan Clark, Jennifer Beatty and Megan Fair.
The honor caught Clark — a 6-foot-1 freshman middle hitter from Boone, N.C. — by surprise.
"I wasn't expecting it," she said. "I just came to follow my passion for volleyball and grow as a player. I was really surprised. They didn't give me a heads up or anything. I was happy that my parents were there, too. They didn't know. They were shaken by it, too. It was really sweet."
Clark led all player in Region X with 340 kills and 180 total blocks, and she finished second among conference players with 68 aces.
She credits assistant coach Mark Wimberley with her development in her first collegiate volleyball season.
"He helped me with my blocking a lot," Clark said. "I would not be able to get this award without him. He kept me after practice sometimes and would work on my footwork. That really helped me out. I've been striving to get better as a player, and it's nice to get recognized. It's not my main priority. I like volleyball. It's my passion, but I also use it as my base to pay for school. That's why I'm at CVCC."
A sophomore libero, Williams tallied 695 digs — the most of any player in Region X. She also recorded 49 service aces and 93 assists on the season. She currently ranks second in program history in digs with 1,416.
Harrington, a freshman middle hitter, ranked fourth among conference volleyball players with 267 kills, and her 133 total blocks were third-best among Region X competitors.
Webber, a sophomore setter, ranked first among conference players with 78 service aces. She also notched 646 assists, which are third-most among conference players, and 254 digs.