SENATOBIA – Three members of the Northwest Mississippi Community College volleyball team earned MACCC All-Conference honors after helping to lead the Rangers to a program record 30-6 season, finishing runners up in the regular season conference title race before seeing the year close in a five-set loss to Pearl River Community College in the Region 23 semifinals.
All three of the All-Conference finishers were freshman, showing off the bright future that the team has going into next season, led by Ariana Woods who was named to the first team and was the fourth highest in total points in the vote and received one first place vote from the coaches. Jania Rose and Adalyn Callahan also made the list, both picking up second-team honors.
Woods was a constant threat all season long both as an offensive and defensive weapon, recording 323 kills on the way to 2.81 kills per set and a .216 hitting percentage on 848 attacks. Her total kills are fourth all-time in program history. She also registered 30 aces this season and averaged 3.47 points per set.
Defensively the freshman from Walls finished with a team high 80 blocks which was fifth all-time in a single season, including 13 solo blocks. She also picked up 86 digs which was the most from any middle this season for the Rangers.
Joining Woods in the 300-kill club was Callahan, who finished with a team high 336 kills which was just 12 kills shy of putting her second all-time in single season kills. She averaged 2.92 per set and it was only the second time a pair of Rangers finished with over 300 kills in a season joining Maddie Smith and Rachel Stegall who paired up for the same accomplishment last season.
Callahan was also a major threat serving the ball with 39 aces on the year and was a rock on the back line as a six-rotation player, picking up 315 digs which was second on the team. She also had 367 service receptions on the year, which was the most on the team, only making 15 receiving errors for a .959 percent rate.
Speaking of defensive stars for Northwest, Jania Rose was one of the more spectacular liberos in the conference while splitting time in the back row. Rose led the team in digs with 385, averaging 3.13 per set and moved to third all-time in digs in a single season, only trailing the 2023 campaigns of Cristen Cleveland (390) and Caroline Howard (486).
Rose also was a menace behind the service line where she had a team high 67 aces which is third all-time in a single season and amazingly is already the fifth best mark for a Ranger in a career. She had five aces or more in three matches this season including a career best eight against Beville State Community College on September 30th.
The trio all have the chance to come back next season for a Ranger team that set marks in most wins in a season (30) and best winning percentage (.833), going 9-3 at home and an amazing 10-1 away. They also picked up their first win over of NJCAA DII ranked program when they defeated #20 Lurleen B. Wallace Community College on October 3rd. They also were a part of Head Coach Allison Burchett winning her 100th career game against Northwest Shoals Community College on September 5th.
You can find more information on the Northwest volleyball team by visiting nwccrangers.com.
