4A HONORS: Centennial’s Hill digs up top honor in Northwest League
Northwest League girls volleyball coaches had never selected a defensive player as Most Valuable Player.
Centennial libero Ashley Hill proved good enough to be the first.
“She was always all over the court, covering our hitters and playing defense,” Centennial coach Shannon Alia said of Hill. “She’s a phenomenal athlete, and one of our top servers. Other teams’ whole strategies were to keep the ball away from Ashley.”
Hill, who averaged 3.6 digs and 1.1 aces per set, was named Northwest MVP, as voted on by the league’s coaches.
The 5-foot-6-inch senior served 79 aces with only 32 service errors and posted a 91.9 serve percentage. Defensively, she finished with 264 digs and 365 serves received for the Northwest champion Bulldogs (29-7, 16-0).
“I’d rather have 10 of Ashley than girls who are 6-feet tall,” Alia said. “Ashley’s the type of player who’s going to get it done. Whatever it takes, she’s going to try and get the job done.
“If she shows her hip bones, you’ll see they’re bruised constantly. She’s got abrasions on her from diving for a dig. She does everything she can to get the ball up.”
Faith Lutheran coach Amy Fisher was named Northwest coach of the year.
Bishop Gorman setter Kylee Chun and Bonanza outside hitter Bree Hammel were selected as Southwest League co-MVPs, and Gorman coach Ed Van Meetren took coach of the year.
Las Vegas setter Tiffany Jackson was Northwest MVP, and Chaparral coach Jay Renneker was selected as coach of the year after helping the Cowboys to their first playoff appearance since 2007.
Class 4A state champion Green Valley swept honors in the Southeast League, with junior outside hitter Carly Schiess taking MVP and Erin Hill being named coach of the year.
