Despite his struggling through a 9-14 season, Western State Conference coaches chose Allan Hancock College volleyball coach Julio Molina as the conference’s volleyball coach of the year.
Though the award typically goes to the coach with the most wins, coaches recognized the progress Molina made with the program, Hancock athletic director Kim Ensing said in a press release.
The Bulldogs finished the season 4-9 in the conference, the best record for the volleyball program since 2005.
Five Hancock players earned All-Conference honors, including first team setter Sadie DeQuattro, who ended the season third in the conference in assists and ranked eighth in digs.
Second team All-Conference freshman Kendall Stahl, from Nipomo High School, topped the conference in digs. Freshman Mallory Piña, from Righetti High, also made second team and finished the season ranked third in the conference in digs and 16th in total kills. Sophomore Erin Smith, from Nipomo, and sophomore Tiffany Isel of Pioneer Valley, were both named honorable mention All-Conference. Smith ranked 24th in kill percentage and Isel was fifth in the conference in digs.
This article appears in Dec 2-9, 2010.