Springfield — Lincoln Land Community College announces fall athletic honors for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XXIV and the Mid-West Athletic Conference.
LLCC volleyball receivedfive All-Region honors and three All-MWAC honors.
Men’s soccer had two players selected as All-Region and one honorable mention, while one was named All-MWAC and three received honorable mention.
2014 NJCAA All-Region XXIV Volleyball:
- First team: Sammie Voils
- Second team: Tessa Amsden, Brenna Perinar, Brittani Tabbert
- Honorable Mention: Tiffani Sunderlin
2014 All-Mid-West Athletic Conference Volleyball:
- First team: Tessa Amsden, Brenna Perinar (also Freshman of the Year), Sammie Voils
- Honorable Mention: Brittany Tabbert
2014 NJCAA All-Region XXIV Soccer:
- First team: Kevin Bertolino, Adrian Manzano (also Forward of the Region)
- Honorable Mention: Naba Alzhyri
2014 All-Mid-West Athletic Conference Soccer:
- First team: Adrian Manzano
- Honorable Mention: Naba Alzhyri, Kevin Bertolino, Jake Oldani
LLCC Volleyball:
- Tessa Amsden (Columbia High School):
- Had 39 aces and 736 digs this season
- Second team All-Region
- First team All-MWAC
- “We used to have liberoes pile up great dig totals, but haven’t lately. That’s how you know Tessa is good,” said coach Jim Dietz. “Other teams won’t hit at her, won’t serve at her, and rightfully. She was steady all year.”
- Brenna Perinar (Minooka High School):
- “Best Opposite Hitter” finished the season with 375 kills, 270 digs, 79 blocks and 41 aces for 460 total points.
- MWAC Freshman of the Year
- Second team All-Region
- “It was easy to see Brenna’s improvement as the year went along. On our end of things, she became a primary serve-receive passer, something we’ve never had a right-side do,” Dietz said. “The top teams started game planning for Brenna and making sure they didn’t get caught with a single blocker out there – they made sure Brenna had two. Even with the additional blockers she still had 20 matches with double-digit kills.”
- Tiffany Sunderlin (Claymont High School):
- Led LLCC in kills with 465, breaking the school record held by former LLCC volleyball player and former coaching assistant, Kelly Wajda. Wajda had 464 kills during the 2007 season.
- Broke the record playing in 17 fewer games and 180 fewer swings.
- First team All-MWAC
- All-Region XXIV honorable mention.
- “Tiffany had a great year hitting on the left for us this season and even chipped in 300-plus digs and 48 aces,” Dietz said.
- Brittani Tabbert (Stewardson-Strasburg High School):
- Finished with 358 kills, 356 digs and 11 double-doubles.
- Hit .350 in the regional championship loss against No. 1 ranked Parkland College.
- Selected second All-Region.
- Received MWAC honorable mention.
- “Brittani is another in our long line of kids from Stew-Stras who’ve helped us to great success,” Dietz said. “You don’t ever have to comment on work ethic, don’t have to worry about competitiveness. I love that.”
- Sammie Voils (Nokomis High School):
- Produced 322 kills, 99 blocks and hit over .300 in nine different matches against ranked teams
- First team All-Region
- First team All-MWAC
- “Sammie was great this year for us, though her numbers were down from last year,” Dietz said. “Last year, we used her on the outside, so she got some extra swings. But this year, we were able to use her in the middle where she hit .281 and used her blocking to force opponents away from attacking in the middle.”
LLCC Soccer:
- Naba Alzhyri (John Overton High School, Nashville, Tenn.):
- Added five goals and one assist to provide some offensive power for the Loggers
- Region XXIV Honorable mention
- MWAC Honorable mention
- “Naba was the nucleus to our midfield from the second half of the season and moving forward,” coach Shawn Dunas said. “He is very good at going east to west and taking the pressure off of our defense. Naba was also very instrumental initiating many of our attacks.”
- Kevin Bertolino (Riverton High School):
- Loggers’ strongest and most consistent defender this season
- First team All-Region XXIV
- MWAC honorable mention
- “Kevin rarely got beat on the left side and when he did, he always recovered and hustled back to help stop the attack,” Dunas said. “He was a very smart player who didn’t run the ball over and created offensive attack from the back. Bertolino also helped attacks by making overlapping runs of the back and then using his strong left foot to send in crosses.”
- Adrian Manzano (Goose Creek Memorial High School, Baytown, Tex.):
- Leading scorer for the Loggers with 13 goals and two assists
- First team All-Region
- Defensive Forward of the Region
- First team All-MWAC
- “Adrian was an offensive key to us being competitive in most games this season,” Dunas said. “The end of the season, Adrian played top by himself and handled the pressure of two to three defenders in every match.”
- Jake Oldani: (Harrisburg High School)
- Honorable mention to the All-MWAC team
