CBU Unveils 2010-19 All-Decade Team
Andrew Shortall, Director of Athletics Communications
10/10/2020
RIVERSIDE – California Baptist University revealed the Lancer Women's Volleyball 2010-19 All-Decade Team, as 16 former student-athletes were honored this week on social media.
The All-Decade Team consists of five position groups: outside hitters, middle blockers, opposite hitters, setters and liberos. The team was put together by Head Coach Branden Higa and Assistant Head Coach Blair Penner. Higa has led the Lancers since 2012 and Penner has been with the team since 2011.
“When I think of the last 10 years, I think of all the athletes who have contributed to this program and the tremendous legacy that they have left for us,” Coach Branden Higa said. “This program has been blessed to be filled with not just high-level athletes, but high-level people. Great students, teammates and friends who gave so much of themselves to each other and to CBU Volleyball. It is truly an honor to be part of what they have created.
"It has been an amazing 10 years for CBU Volleyball. We’ve gone from NAIA to NCAA D-II and now to NCAA D-I in that time and have done all of it while winning championships, performing in the classroom at the highest level, while embracing the trials of facing higher levels with humility and competitiveness. The women on the All-Decade Team represent the best of this era."
Players were selected on the following criteria:
- Competed between 2010-19 at CBU
- Postseason honors and statistical achievement
- To be considered, players had to complete their collegiate careers at CBU
ALL-DECADE TEAM
Lauren Hackett Heading was named the Player of the Decade for the Lancers. She graduated as one of the most prolific offensive threats in the storied history of CBU Volleyball. She ended her career as the 2017 Player of the Year in the PacWest and NCAA Division II West Region. Overall, the Covington, Wash. native reaped five all-American and All-West Region awards in her career and was a first team All-PacWest pick all four years. She was also voted the Freshman of the Year in the PacWest, West Region and Division II in 2014.
In CBU's rally-era career record books, Hackett (2014-17) ranks third in attacks (4,377), fifth in kills (1,687) and kills per set (4.04), seventh in blocks (279), ninth in sets played (418) and 11th in aces (112). Her attacks, kills, kills per set, aces and sets played rank first in the program's NCAA era (2013-19), while her blocks are the third most in that span.
As far as single-season records, Hackett holds NCAA-era bests in kills (492) and kills per set (4.47), which rank in the top 10 of the rally era, as well. She logged 20 or more kills in a match seven times and had 25 or more kills four times, with an NCAA-era single-match record of 27 against Dominican on Sept. 24, 2016.
“When you talk about the past decade in CBU Volleyball history, you have to talk about the D-II era and the athlete who defines that era is Lauren,” Higa said. "From coming in and being named D-II Freshman of the Year, to leading us to being the number one team in the nation her senior year, Lauren’s contributions and legacy are unquestioned. There is no question that she is the Player of the Decade for CBU Volleyball."
?? PLAYER OF THE DECADE ??
— CBU Volleyball (@CBUvolleyball) October 10, 2020
Lauren Hackett is our 2010-19 Player of the Decade.
? Player of the Year in the NCAA D2 West Region & PacWest
? 5x All-American, All-West Region
? 4x 1st team All-PacWest
? 2014 Freshman of the Year in the PacWest, West Region, D2#LanceUp?? pic.twitter.com/hsoHqhg0kR
McKenna Witt Thibodeau, Ingrid Carmona and Jessica Kalama Turner joined Hackett as the All-Decade Team Outside Hitters.
Carmona (2009-12) was inducted into the CBU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019 after a career that included four first-team All-American and all-conference honors. She also made two national all-tournament teams. The 2011 PacWest Newcomer of the Year ranks first in Lancer history with 1,890 kills and 4,728 attacks. Her 4.05 kills per set rank fourth and her 467 sets played are fifth. She also ranked eighth with 1,098 digs and 11th with 119 career aces.
Kalama ranks eighth in sets played (434), 11th in digs (948) and 12th in attempts (2,275). She led the team with 428 digs in 2011 and was key to an incredible run of success for CBU from 2008-11. The Lancers made the postseason and at least the national quarterfinals all four years, starting with a run to the NAIA semifinals in 2008 and an NCCAA Championship in 2011.
McKenna called CBU home for just one season, but what a season it was. The graduate student transfer from the University of Arizona did whatever was needed from her in 2017 and did it all well. She put together a season with 389.5 points, 333 kills, 293 digs and 58 blocks en route to earning NCAA Division II All-American honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She ranks top-10 in CBU's NCAA-era, single-season record book for kills (3.33) and digs per set (2.93). Her attack percentage of .265 ranks seventh in the Lancers' career NCAA-era record book.
?? ALL-DECADE ??
— CBU Volleyball (@CBUvolleyball) October 5, 2020
Congratulations to Lauren Hackett (2014-17), McKenna Witt (2017), Ingrid Carmona (2009-12) and Jessica Kalama (2008-11) for being named our 2010-19 All-Decade Team Outside Hitters. #LanceUp?? pic.twitter.com/ml23B9wUD7
Madison Witt Willis, Jenna Perry Blocksom and Michelle Waber Wright are the All-Decade Team Opposite Hitters.
Madison, along with her twin sister McKenna, helped make the 2017 season an extra special one for CBU. The Lancers achieved the No. 1 ranking in NCAA Division II going into the 2017 postseason and earned the right to host the West Regional before it ended the campaign with a 29-1 record. CBU set program records for a 29-match unbeaten streak and a 20-0 conference record that won it the PacWest title.
In just one season, Madison set herself up as CBU's career NCAA-era leader in attack percentage with a .336. She also averaged 3.39 kills and 0.92 blocks a set that year, which are both top-10 marks in the program's NCAA-era single-season record book. It led to Madison being named the PacWest Newcomer of the Year, a two-time All-West Region selection and first-team All-American in NCAA Division II.
Perry (2013-16) was a two-time All-American, All-West Region and All-PacWest honoree for CBU. She's the only Lancer in the rally era to put together two matches with at least 13 kills and attack percentages over .800.
All time, Perry ranks seventh in career kills (1,131) and blocks (314) in CBU history and ninth in attempts (2,649). In the NCAA era, she ranks second in career points (1,322.5) and kills, third in attempts and blocks, fourth in sets played (403), fifth in attack percentage (.282) and blocks per set (0.78), sixth in kills per set (2.81) and seventh in points per set (3.28). Her .341 hitting percentage in 2014 ranks second in CBU's NCAA era.
Wright (2014) was another star single-season transfer for the Lancers in 2014 and has been on the coaching staff at CBU since the 2018 season. She earned All-American, All-West Region and the PacWest Newcomer of the Year awards in her lone season at CBU.
She finished the season with 376 kills (3.55 a set) on 1,067 attempts, 306 digs (2.89 a set), which are all top-11 marks in the NCAA era. Her points (3.91) and kills per set averages rank second in the Lancers' NCAA-era career record book, while she also ranks fourth in digs per set and ninth in attack percentage (.251).
?? ALL-DECADE ??
— CBU Volleyball (@CBUvolleyball) October 7, 2020
Congratulations to Madison Witt (2017), Jenna Perry (2013-16) and Michelle Waber Wright (2014) on being named our 2010-19 All-Decade Team Opposite Hitters. #LanceUp?? pic.twitter.com/j0gyZp0S3r
Bree Rauschenbach Schober, Yagoda Jedrzejczak, Abbie Gortsema and Jessica Harris are the All-Decade Team Middle Blockers.
Rauschenbach (2008-11) was a two-time All-American and all-conference honoree in her career and earned NCCAA All-Tournament recognition after playing a key role in the Lancers' run to the 2011 NCCAA title. She holds a number of CBU records, including career sets played (509), aces (229) and aces in a single season (92). She also ranks second in career blocks (462), fifth in aces per set (0.45) and 11th in hitting percentage (.301).
Her 10 aces against Notre Dame de Namur in 2011 are also tied for the single-match record. She is just the second Lancer in the rally-scoring era to put together two matches with with at least 10 kills and a .750 hitting percentage.
Jedrzejczak (2017-19) is one of the best blockers ever in CBU history. Her 348 blocks in three seasons are a program high in the NCAA era and rank fourth all time. She also ranks sixth all time with 1.04 blocks per set. She ranks third in the NCAA-era, single-season record book in total blocks (140) and blocks per set (1.41) in 2017. The Anaheim native earned All-PacWest third-team distinction in 2017.
Gortsema (2015-16) enjoyed an impressive two-year run as a transfer at CBU, as she earned All-PacWest distinction twice. She ranks third all-time in blocks per set (1.23) and top-five in the NCAA era in attack percentage (.291) and blocks (264). Her 141 blocks in 2015 rank second in the Lancers' NCAA-era, single-season rankings.
Harris (2013-16) ranks second in NCAA-era history in attack percentage (.304), total blocks (340) and third in blocks per set (1.18). All-time, she ranks 10th in attack percentage, fourth in blocks per set and fifth in total blocks. Those impressive numbers helped her earn All-PacWest honors in 2014.
?? ALL-DECADE ??
— CBU Volleyball (@CBUvolleyball) October 6, 2020
Congratulations to Bree Rauschenbach (2008-11), Yagoda Jedrzejczak (2017-19), Abbie Gortsema (2015-16) and Jessica Harris (2013-16) for being named our 2010-19 All-Decade Team Middle Blockers. #LanceUp?? pic.twitter.com/LuDq7p1IHe
Sydney Kralj, Natalie Zimmerer Delaere and Jordyn Siko are the All-Decade Team Setters.
Kralj (2016-17) put together two of the best seasons of any Lancer setter in the NCAA era. Her career numbers of 11.19 assists per set and 2,237 assists in all are both NCAA-era bests and rank second and sixth all time, respectively. In the NCAA era, she also ranks seventh in digs (511) and eighth in digs per set (2.56).
Overall, Kralj reaped two All-American, PacWest Setter of the Year and three All-West Region awards. She put together season-highs of 11.39 assists per set and 1,132 assists, which rank sixth and 10th in the program's rally-scoring era, respectively.
Zimmerer (2016-19) is the first setter to earn all-conference honors in Division I after she led the Western Athletic Conference with 1,316 assists and a 10.44 per set average in 2018. She holds CBU's NCAA-era record for assists in a season and assists in a match, with 60-assist performances.
The Fresno native ranks seventh in program history for career assists (2,228) and eighth in assists per set (8.28). In the NCAA era, she ranks sixth in digs (574) and 10th in sets played (269). Her 310 digs in 2018 rank 10th in the NCAA era's single-season history.
Siko (2011-15) was a two-time All-PacWest selection in her career, and ranks third in the rally-scoring era with 3,020 assists and fifth with 9.07 assists per set in her career. Despite just having two eligible seasons, she ranks top-three for assists (1,813) and assists per set (10.60) in CBU's NCAA-era history. She also sits third in CBU's all-time, single-season history with a .373 attack percentage in 2015.
The Chino Hills native eclipsed 1,000 assists in 2015 to rank fifth in CBU's single-season, NCAA-era history (1,062). She also ranks ninth in total blocks (100) and 10th in digs per set (2.48) in the NCAA era. Siko is also just the second Lancer setter in the NCAA era with two seasons with an assist per set average over 10.50.
?? ALL-DECADE ??
— CBU Volleyball (@CBUvolleyball) October 8, 2020
Congratulations to Sydney Kralj (2016-17), Natalie Zimmerer (2016-19) and Jordyn Siko (2011-15) on being named our 2010-19 All-Decade Team Setters. #LanceUp?? pic.twitter.com/P2pZjzhYBS
Tori Ortman and Nicole Abreu are the All-Decade Team Liberos.
Ortman (2013-16) ranks sixth in team history for career digs (1,232) and eighth in digs per set (2.99). She holds the NCAA-era lead in total digs and also ranks third in aces (97) and sets played (412). The Long Beach native ended her career with back-to-back seasons with at least 398 digs and a 3.67 per set average.
Abreu (2018-19) holds CBU's career record for digs per set, with a 4.37 average, and also ranks ninth all-time with 1,061 digs after just two seasons at CBU. In the NCAA era, she ranks second -- right behind Ortman -- for total digs (1,061) and is also fifth in aces (59). In the all-time single-season record book, Abreu ranks third in digs (580) and digs per set (4.57), which are both NCAA-era records.
?? ALL-DECADE ??
— CBU Volleyball (@CBUvolleyball) October 9, 2020
Congratulations to Nicole Abreu (2018-19) and Tori Ortman (2013-16) on being named our 2010-19 All-Decade Team Liberos. #LanceUp?? pic.twitter.com/250TaZQgNC
