2022 NJCAA Volleyball All-Americans
The NJCAA came out with the 2022 All-American teams for volleyball on Thursday -- with seven ICCAC players being named to this year's lists.
Division I saw a pair of Indian Hills Warriors on the First Team. Hennesys Lalane and Jarolin de los Santos were the two tagged with First Team honors, the first Warriors to do so since Maraian Rodrigues did so in 2019.
Lalane was the 2022 ICCAC Division I Player of the Year. She and her teammates helped propel Indian Hills to new heights -- all the way to No. 2 ranking (their highest ever), a national tournament appearance, and a fourth-place finish (second-best all time).
Lalane set a single season school record with 109 service aces and became the schools all-time leader with 186. Her .406 hitting percentage is best in school history as well. As a setter -- she ranked first in the nation in total assists with 1636, and was eighth in assists per set at 10.29.
A sophomore middle blocker, de los Santos was one of the best in the country. She led the country in blocks with 201 -- including the most solo blocks with 64. She ends her Warrior career with 463 career blocks -- the most in team history.
From Division II, five players earned the nod on this year's All-American bill.
Iowa Central, the Region 11-A Champions had two players receive honors -- outside hitter Katilyn Steffes and utility hitter Jori Hajek.
Steffes, a First Team All-American, was the No. 1 hitter in the country this season with 793 kills and 5.29 kills per set. She led all of Division II in both categories. That number set a single-season record at Iowa Central that has seen a number of great hitters of the past several seasons. It is also the third-most kills in a season in NJCAA Division II history.
In addition, the ICCAC Division II Player of the Year was top 40 in hitting percentage (.307), aces (67), digs (551) and block assists (82).
Hajek paired with Steffes as a hitter and doubled as a defensive specialist. She had 395 kills, 620 digs and 698 receptions. Hajek was a Second Team selection.
Kirkwood also had a pair of players up front earn All-American status in Ava Morris and Alyssa Tegeler.
Morris was named the ICCAC Freshman of the Year after leading the Eagles to their fifth-straight national tournament appearance. Morris was the top hitter for a balanced Kirkwood attack.
She was one of the nation's best blockers, ending with 157 total blocks, seventh-most in the country. She had 380 kills as well on her way to a First Team All-American designation.
Tegeler joined Morris in the middle as a blocker on the Honorable Mention list. She was fourth in the country with 197 blocks and 13th with 1.21 blocks per set. She added 350 kills as well to Kirkwood's eighth-place finish.
Northeast's freshman Karley Heimes ended the year with a Second Team All-American designation after an outstanding season hitting the ball. Heimes trailed only Steffes in kills per set at 5.02 -- they were the only two players to average over five kills per set. She was third in the country in total kills with 622.