Former Clarion Area Standout Aryana Girvan And Teammate Johnna Hill Named To 2023 NJCAA DIII Women’s Volleyball All-America Team For BC3

on 6 December, 2023 at 19:27

Photos Courtesy of BC3 Athletics – Above: Aryana on a big return.

(Information from BC3 Athletics December 5th news release and website.)

Former Clarion Area Bobcat standout Aryana Girvan and her Butler County Community College (BC3) teammate Johnna Hill from Laurel were named to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) 2023 All-America Team.

Aryana, a 5′-5″ freshman Outside Hitter, was named to the Second Team, Johnna, a 5′-8″ freshman Opposite Hitter, was an Honorable Mention selectee.

Aryana led BC3 with 233 kills. She also had 343 digs for the 18-6 Pioneers, who won the Division III Region 20 championship.

Aryana is the first NJCAA Volleyball All-American in BC3 history to have also been a member of a state champion high school squad, with the Bobcats winning two Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) championships (2020, 2021).

Pioneers Women’s Volleyball head coach Rob Snyder had this to say about Aryana, “She has an amazing ability to get kills, “Every ball she touches falls in somehow, whether from the front row or from the back rows. She just has an innate ability to score points, which is impressive.”

“We threw a lot of balls out to her and she took a lot of swings. Some nights she had to carry the load and she was able to do that.”

Aryana said, “The thing that I do the most is hit.

“That’s what I love to do and that’s what I know I am good at. I’m also very good at chasing down balls and if we need a save, I am going to go after it.”

Aryana knows the whole BC3 squad is behind her. “I couldn’t have done this without my teammates and all of the hard work the coaches have put in with me. This means a lot to me, along with knowing that the hard work has paid off.”

Johnna is described in the release as “One of our best servers.”

Johnna, a left-handed Opposite Hitter from the right side, played in 21 games, leading the Pioneers in service aces per set with 0.61. Her impressive numbers include, being second in kills per set at 1.97, in assists with 136 and in service aces with 44. Johnna was third in kills (142), points (194) and points per set (2.7).

Coach Snyder had this to say about Johnna, “Very similar to Aryana in that she is a good hitter, good at defense and one of our best servers. “She was like the big-play person. Aryana was the workhorse. But whenever things got tight and we really needed a big point, Johnna always seemed to come through with that.”

Johnna mentioned that opponents probably thought it was difficult to block her, saying, “If you are right-handed, which most players are, setting up a block is so much easier for them. But it was hard for them to adjust to me hitting the ball.”

She also mentioned, her gratitude for being selected and the help she received from her BC3 teammates, “I am grateful to be chosen as an All-American. All of our teammates worked so hard. I can’t thank them enough.”

Photo courtesy of BC3 Athletics – The Butler County Community College volleyball team is shown Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, in BC3’s Field House after the Pioneers won a postseason dual championship against the Community College of Allegheny County and moved to within a home victory of the national tournament in Iowa. 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.

Aslyn Pry from Moniteau and Morgan Jack from Knoch were named Women’s Volleyball All-Americans in 2022 Aslyn was named to this year’s All-America team in Women’s Basketball

Aslyn led Division III in Women’s Volleyball in 2022, with a .432 hitting percentage and was 15th in kills per set (3.86) for the Pioneers.

She averaged 19.6 rebounds and 23.2 points in 2023 for the BC3 Women’s Basketball team, scoring 20 or more points in 13 games. Aslyn had a season-high of 37 in a December 4th victory over Lorain County Community College, Elyria, Ohio.

Morgan, set the volleyball program’s career assists record, in 2022, with 1,429 in 44 matches, with 40 or more assists in five matches, including 56 on August 27th, against Lakeland Community College, Kirtland, Ohio. She was also selected as an All-American in 2021.

BC3 had All-Americans in other sports also. Coach Snyder who is also BC3′ Director of Student Life shared, “Our programs are known to be successful, and that may help players to get more accolades,” said Rob Snyder, BC3’s director of student life and athletics and coach of the volleyball team. “Recruiting is a really big part of it. And continued success is a big part of it.”

Congratulations to Aryana, Johnna, Aslyn, Morgan and the other BC3 athletes named NJCAA All-Americans in this and prior years!!!!

Thanks to BC3 Athletics for their photos and information!!