Aryana Girvan And BC3 Teammates Drop Hard Fought, Five Set NJCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic District Women’s Volleyball Final To Caldwell College, Complete Fine 18-6 Season

on 2 November, 2023 at 00:53

Feature photo above courtesy of Nate Girvan – Aryana looking to deliver a kill.

Former Clarion Area standout Aryana Girvan and her Butler County Community College (BC3) Pioneers volleyball teammates, which includes several other area players, dropped a hard fought, five set (22-25, 25-17, 21-25, 25-22,15-4), NJCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic District final to the Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute Cobras, from Hudson, North Carolina.

The match, held at the BC3 Field House on Saturday (October 28th), featured twenty lead changes

Caldwell, along with eleven other district champions, earns an automatic berth to the 16-team, NJCAA National Tournament to be held at Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which runs Wednesday, November 8th through Sunday, November 12th.

**Photo courtesy of BC3 Athletics – Jozee Weaver going for the return.**

BC3 made it to the Mid-Atlantic District title match after claiming the program’s eighth consecutive Western Pennsylvania Community College (WPCC) championship, on Saturday, October 21st. They also won the program’s fifth consecutive National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division III Region 20 championships, that same day. Both were held at BC3 Field House.

**Photo courtesy of Nate Girvan – Rosie Cardin** **(21) setting Lexi Ruckdeschel (11).**

The Pioneers finished the 2023 season at 18-6. This is BC3’s fourteenth winning season in a row.

Aryana had 16 digs and 18 kills in the Mid Atlantic District final.

Aryana had this to say to the BC3 Athletics press release, “We knew at the beginning of the season there was a lot expected of us,” Girvan said. “I feel great about this season. A lot of people didn’t think we could do what we did.”

The other players from the area include, Jozee Weaver from Keystone, Lexie Ruckdeschel from A-C Valley, Abbey Young from Redbank Valley, and the Karns City duo of Amber Maurer and Rosie Cardin.

**Photo courtesy of Nate Girvan – Amber Maurer (6) and Rosi Young (3) and other Pioneer players lending support to teammates on the court.**

Several of the area players had some big numbers in the match against Caldwell. Carden had 34 assists, Weaver a season-high 20 digs and Ruckdeschel had 10 kills.

Ruckdeschel was also quoted in the press release saying, “We definitely worked super-hard today. I can’t feel too down because of how hard we worked.”

Another BC3 player who had an impressive performance was Nina Szymanski from Knoch, who had 37 digs. She was quoted, “We’re a great team. “This shows that next year is going to be something bigger.”

**Photo courtesy of Nate Girvan –** Nina Szymanski (15) had an outstanding match

And Pioneers coach Rob Snyder was quoted, “It was an exceptional game. Both teams were awesome. We played as well as we possibly could have, and we’ve had a good season. They have exceeded my expectations the whole season.”

(Congratulations on your great season Aryana and the whole BC3 Volleyball Squad!!!! Thanks to Nate Girvan and BC3 Athletics for the photos!!)