2019 OCCAC Volleyball News
Nate Cole, Edison State Community College Director of Athletics & Student Life, was voted as the Michael Rickard OCCAC Athletics Director of the Year for 2019-20. This accolade comes after Cole guided the Chargers to their first OCCAC All-Sports Award in school history.
Edison State Community College (D-II) and Owens Community College (D-III) are the 2019-20 OCCAC All-Sports Award winners. This season marks the first in which honorees were selected for both D-II and D-III.
The Ohio Community College Athletic Conference has named individuals from seven sports as the 2019-20 Scholar-Athletes of the Year. In addition, 23 OCCAC student-athletes earned a spot on the ’19-20 All-Sportsmanship Team.
A swap to virtual learning during the Spring ’20 semester did little to derail the academic success of many student-athletes across the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference. The complete list of OCCAC Academic All-Conference laurels is below. To qualify, a student-athlete must achieve a 3.30 GPA or higher while completing at least six credit hours (credit hour qualification reduction for this semester only due to COVID-19).
The 2010’s are officially behind us now. But before we completely flip the page to the 2020’s, the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference is releasing its All-Decade Teams. First up is women’s volleyball.
STUDENT-athletes from across the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference earned Academic All-Conference honors for the Fall ’19 semester. To qualify, a student-athlete must achieve a 3.30 GPA or higher while completing at least 12 credit hours.
It took Owens Volleyball head coach Sonny Lewis 18 seasons to win his first national championship. It took just 371 days to win his second. The Express swept their way to the program's second consecutive national championship on Saturday evening, defeating conference rival Columbus State for the fifth time this season.
Volleyball stand-outs from the 2019 regular season were recognized by the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference on Monday, Nov. 4, as the league released it yearly accolades and All-OCCAC honorees list. Owens’ Tyriana Settles and Sonny Lewis headline the group as the league’s Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively.
The 10th and final recognition for OCCAC Volleyball Players of the Week in 2019 goes to Hallie Holbrook (Sinclair) and Bobby Diamond (Columbus State). Holbrook is a first-time honoree while Diamond nabs her third this season and sixth of her career.
Heavy contributors both offensively and defensively, Sarah Pothast (Edison State) and Vanecia Billings (Lorain County), were awarded for their dual efforts from Oct. 14-20 and named the OCCAC Players of the Week. Both are first-time volleyball winners (Pothast is a two-time honoree for women's basketball as a two-sport performer).
Elizabeth Sicking (Sinclair) and Bobby Diamond (Columbus State) are the OCCAC Volleyball Players of the Week for Oct. 7-13. Both are repeat performers from earlier this season and as freshmen in 2018.
October represents the final month of OCCAC Volleyball’s regular season. Annayia Ruffin (Cuyahoga) and Rebecca Brown (Owens) started it off with a bang, each snagging OCCAC Player of the Week honors.
Tyriana Settles (Owens) and Elizabeth Sicking (Sinclair) are no strangers to earning recognition from the league office, combining for seven of a possible 12 OCCAC Volleyball Player of the Week honors in the season’s first month and a half after both receiving the distinction once again on Sept. 30.
A milestone-reaching performance from Columbus State’s Audrey Jenkins was accompanied by OCCAC Player of the Week accolades while Elizabeth Sicking from Sinclair brought home her third weekly league award through five weeks of the 2019 season. Jenkins recorded the 1,000th assist of her career and Sicking now owns eight OCCAC Player of the Week recognitions.
A pair of six-rotation freshman outside hitters earned OCCAC Volleyball Player of the Week recognition for Sept. 9-15 when Annayia Ruffin (Cuyahoga) and Tyriana Settles (Owens) were announced as the D-II and D-III recipients, respectively, on Monday (Sept. 16). Settles picks up her second weekly accolade of the young season.
Columbus State and Sinclair representatives earned OCCAC Player of the Week honors for the second straight week. Elizabeth Nicole Sicking repeats as the D-II winner while Cougar libero Tate Rybarczyk brings home D-III accolades.
