The College of New Rochelle Volleyball Wins Numerous AD3I All-Independent Awards

The Association of Division III Independents (AD3I) released its Women’s Volleyball All-Independent Teams recently, and The College of New Rochelle was well represented, with a program record five honorees.

Junior co-captain Meghan King (New City, NY/Clarkstown North HS) and freshman Indigo Flowers (Castro Valley, CA/Castro Valley HS) received First Team All-Independent status at Outside Hitter and Setter, respectively, freshman Marissa Armstrong (Scottsdale, AZ/Paradise Valley) was named Second Team All-Independent at Outside Hitter, and freshmen Tiany Perez Diaz (Junco, Puerto Rico/Notre Dame HS) and Kylie Thesz (Salem, MA/Salem HS) were selected as Honorable Mention All-Independent at Libero and Middle, respectively. 

In addition, Flowers was named AD3I Women’s Volleyball Rookie of the Year and Coach Georgia Efthalitsides received AD3I Women’s Volleyball Coach of the Year honors.

King moves up to the First Team after earning Second Team All-Independent honors last season.  During the season, she was twice named AD3I Volleyball Player of the Week and was recognized as the AD3I Student-Athlete of the Month for September.  The outside hitter led the Blue Angels in total kills (384), and was second on the team in aces (74) and tallied a team-leading and program-record 14 double-doubles, including in both games of the HVIAC Tournament, won by the Blue Angels for the third time in the last five seasons.  In addition to the double-double school record, she established new school records in kills for a career (681), kills in a season (384), and kills in a match.  King already holds the school record for aces in a match. The communication arts major slammed down 15 or more kills on 10 occasions, highlighted by her school-record 22 kill performance in the team's win over John Jay College, and dig up 20 or more balls three times.

Flowers stepped into the role as the Blue Angels' primary setter and helped quarterback one of the most explosive offenses in the conference.  She  set new program standards in assists in a season (747), aces in a season (108) and assists in a match (43).  The Castro Valley, CA resident tallied 10 double-doubles, handed out 30 or more assists nine times, served up four or more aces 13 times and dug up 10 or more balls 10 times.  She finished the season ranked second in NCAA Division III in aces per set (0.92).

Armstrong ranked second on the team in kills and third in total digs and aces.  The Scottsdale, AZ native tallied eight double-doubles on the year and set a new program-record for sets played in a season, as she appeared in all 119 sets CNR played in 2013.  Armstrong recorded 10 or more kills seven times, and 10 or more digs 14 times.  She tallied a then-school-record 20 kills a win vs. Rutgers-Newark, and posted her best all-around match in the HVIAC Championship Tournament Final against St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn, registering 17 kills, 18 digs and six aces.

Perez Diaz emerged as top defensive player on the team, posting a school record for digs in a match (35) and equaling the school record for digs in a season (367), despite missed five matches and having a slow start to the season while recovering from knee surgery.  Opportunistic on the attack and a secondary setter from the libero position, she was also effective at the service line, connecting on 55 aces.  On the season, Perez Diaz posted seven matches with 20 or more digs and 16 with 10 or more.

Thesz improved the program record for blocks in a season (47.0) by 16 and equaled the school record for blocks in a match, stuffing five attacks (four solo) in the win over Purchase College.  She improved throughout the year and was playing her best volleyball of the season down the stretch, posting seven matches in a row with five or more kills, before an ankle injury ended her season with one regular season match left.

Coach Efthalitsides, in her fifth season at the helm for the Blue Angels, brought together a team that started four freshmen and transformed them into the winningest team in program history, becoming the first volleyball team in school history, and just the third in any sport, to reach the 20-win plateau.  The HVIAC Tournament Championship was her third in her five years as the College’s head coach.  Coach Efthalitsides has led her team to the HVIAC Tournament Semifinals in each of her five seasons.

All told, the 2013 Blue Angels set or matched 30 program records:

Individual Records

1. Sets played in a season – Marissa Armstrong – 119
2. Aces in a season – Indigo Flowers – 108
3. Kills in a career – Meghan King – 681
4. Kills in a season  - Meghan King – 384
5. Kills in a match – Meghan King – 22
6. Kills in a match (3 sets) – Meghan King – 15
7. Kills in a match (4 sets) – Meghan King – 21
8. Kills in a match (5 sets) – Meghan King – 22
9. Assists in a match – Indigo Flowers – 43
10. Assists in a match (4 sets) – Indigo Flowers – 39
11. Assists in a match (5 sets) – Indigo Flowers – 43
12. Assists in a season – Indigo Flowers – 747
13. Digs in a match – Tiany Perez Diaz – 35
14. Digs in a match (5 sets) – Tiany Perez Diaz – 35
15. Digs in a season – Tiany Perez Diaz - 367
16. Total blocks in match – Kylie Thesz – 5
17. Total blocks in a match – Erica Cuscina – 5
18. Total blocks in a season – Kylie Thesz – 47
19. Double-doubles in a season – Meghan King – 14

 Team Records

1. Wins in a season – 22
2. Wins at home – 13
3. Consecutive wins – 9
4. Conference wins – 6
5. Matches played in a season – 33
6. Sets played in a season – 119
7. Kills in a season – 1008
8. Assists in a season – 877
9. Aces in a season – 406
10. Digs in a season – 1587
11. Blocks in a season – 95.0

To learn more about the Blue Angels, visit CNRAthletics.com.