Aryana Girvan NJCAA Region 20 Tournament MVP, And BC3 Teammates Win Dual Championships on Saturday (October 21st)
Above photo courtesy of BC3 Athletics – The Butler County Community College Pioneer Volleyball Team – Front row, from left, Johnna Hill, Alyssa Gallagher, Abby Young, Jozee Weaver, Aryana Girvan and Rosie Carden. Back row, from left, assistant coaches Autumn Hutchison and Chelsea Yeckel; Amber Maurer, Nina Szymanski, Zoe Morley, Lexi Ruckdeschel, Emma Johns, head coach Rob Snyder and assistant coaches Morgan Jack and Abby Granato.
Butler County Community College’s (BC3) Aryana Girvan, a three time Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association (PVCA) High School All-Stater for the Clarion Area Bobcats, was named the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Region 20 Tournament MVP, for her outstanding play, as the Pioneers captured the title, with a straight set (25-10, 25-10, 25-17) win over Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC), in the championship match, at the BC3 Field House on Saturday (October 21st).
Aryana had 18 kills and nine kills
The win actually earned BC3 two championships. In addition to the Region 20 title, the Pioneers won Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference (WPCC) crown.
The BC3 news release mentioned that championships are the Pioneers’ goal, then quoted Head Coach Rob Snyder who said, “more importantly, we want to play good volleyball. And we played really good volleyball today. If you play good volleyball, you should win.”
CCAC reached the title game with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-20, 25-20) victory over Pennsylvania Highlands Community College.
Aryana and several teammates were named Region 20 Tournament All-Stars and WPCC All-Conference after the tournament. Some, like Aryana, were named to both.
No. 15 Pioneers to host North Carolina squad Saturday for berth in national tournament
The Pioneers, who are currently 18-5 and ranked fifteenth in the NJCAA, will host the Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute Cobras, from Hudson, North Carolina at on Saturday (October 28th) at 1 p.m. in the NJCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic District championship match. Caldwell, ranked eighth, is 20-5.
There are eighty-six NJCAA Division III programs.
The winner of the match will advance to the 16-team, NJCAA National Tournament to be held at the 9,000 seat Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which runs Wednesday, November 8th through Sunday, November 12th.
Other Pioneers named to the Region 20 All-Tournament Team includes two other girls who played high school volleyball in the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference (KSAC), Lexie Ruckdeschel (10 kills) from A-C Valley and Rosie Carden (23 assists) from Karns City, as well as Johnna Hill from Laurel.
Other BC3 players named to the WPCC All-Conference Team, along with Arayana, Rosie and Johnna, were former KSAC player Jozee Weaver from Keystone and Nina Szymanski (22 digs) from Knoch.
Two other past KSAC players on the Pioneers’ roster are Abby Young from Redbank Valley and Amber Maurer from Karns City.
Aryana shared some fine thoughts on the awards, the championships, her teammates and coaches, family and more.
She mentioned the pressure she felt growing up and how that has changed at BC3. “It feels incredible to have received these awards. I honestly wasn’t too sure how college would go for me as I lost my love for volleyball in high school. I was very used to extremely high standards being the ‘little sister’ and coming from a family of incredible athletes. So receiving the things I did in high school, it felt like I absolutely had to in order to make everyone else proud of me…in high school I started on varsity as a freshman and received All-Conference, All-District, and All-State 3 years in a row. There was an expectation of me.
‘However, once I got to BC3, I tried to not expect so much from myself and just love the game again and have so much fun doing it! So receiving those awards felt so good, I proved that I didn’t have to expect so much of myself and stress to the point of not having fun to achieve amazing things. I never thought I’d be receiving these awards at this level of volleyball, so it’s amazing and I’m extremely blessed to have the support system I do.”
She has many to thank for her transformation. “As for me being named “Region 20 MVP” and to the (WPCC) “All-Conference Team” I couldn’t do it without my amazing teammates. Volleyball isn’t an individual sport. There are so many people that have to be involved in order to make it work. I couldn’t get a kill without a good pass, and a set. And I wouldn’t be the player I am without the support of my team, coaches, and support system behind me.
“At almost every single game my family takes up part of the bleachers to cheer me on. A special thank you to my mom and little brother who have traveled everywhere we have played to come support.”
“And the Pioneer Volleyball players really have each others’ backs. Aryana shared, “At BC3, volleyball is known for its success, so my teammates and I knew there would be a lot of pressure on us to do very well. We push each other and we also support each other. We try not to think of all of the pressure on us to win titles. We focus more on playing our game.
“No matter the outcome, we will be happy because we know we played at our best…although it does feel pretty dang good winning the titles we have!
“We were so excited to host the tournament this year. We seem to play our best at our home gym, so we not only felt extremely comfortable while playing, but it was also great to have our gym packed full with fans.
“My coaches and teammates are phenomenal. (BC3 Head Coach) Rob Snyder has taught me so much. He pushes me to be my best and that’s what I love.
“Almost every morning, Rob has something for us for breakfast in his office before class. He’s not just a coach, he cares so much about us and treats us like family.”
More than mere camaraderie with this team, much more. “As for my teammates, they have honestly become my best friends. Abby, Jozee, Lexi, Emma, Rosie, Amber and I all had the privilege of playing against each other throughout our high school careers. And we all became friends along the way. Alyssa, Nina, Zoe, and Johnna are all amazing players from outside of “District 9,” so I had never seen them play nor met them before.
“Once we hit the court, we all just meshed together so well and we put our individual strengths together and work as one. We aren’t just teammates we’re best friends. Whether we’re on or off of the court. Rosie, Nina, Johnna, Jozee, and Lexi were also all named to the All-Star teams. I’m so proud of them. I see them work so hard in practice and it’s great to see them receive the recognition they deserve.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team! And I can’t wait to continue this journey with them!”
Congratulations to Aryana and her Pioneer teammates and coaches on these great accomplishments and so much more!!!!
(Thank you to BC3 Athletics and Tracy Girvan for your photos!!)