Ceres High girls volleyball leader Kelly Heese could always count on Bella Curry and Allison Stiles.
Curry and Stiles were both rewarded during the Western Athletic Conference year-end head coaches’ meeting.
Central Valley’s Azalia Diaz garnered praise from Central California Conference’s coaches.
Curry and Stiles earned honorable-mention WAC recognition for their outstanding play this fall.
Curry, a senior, ranked first on the team in kills and aces, and second in blocks and assists according to Heese.
“There’s a lot to be said about Bella,” Heese stated. “She’s coachable. She’s a very strong leader. She could play anywhere on the court for you. You don’t find that very often. She was my team MVP for the season.”
Curry suited up for the Lady Sharx, Heese’s club team, during the off-season.
“She was a very shy, timid young lady,” Heese said. “Her first season playing club ball grew her confidence and turned her into a completely different player. If she sat idle, she wouldn’t have made the improvements she did. It makes a world of difference for the high-school season.”
Stiles, a junior, ranked first on the team in assists.
“She is definitely a hustler,” Heese said. “She will sacrifice her body and do her best to make the play. She has a ton of heart. She’s very hard on herself. She challenges herself in everything she does.”
A junior standout, Diaz was selected to the CCC Second Team.
“When I nominated her, almost every coach at the table nodded their heads,” Hawks’ leader Regina Selfridge said. “Azalia is a smart player that works year-round to improve. She has a lot of talent and pulls the rest of the girls up to a higher level.”
Dias totaled 63 digs and 56 kills this year.
“This year, she didn’t hit as hard as I wanted her too, but she hit smart by placing the ball into holes on the other court,” Selfridge said. “She has an incredible serve that is hard to defend against. She has a great net presence. I don’t like moving her to middle hitter unless I have to, but when I do our blocking stats go up. I am expecting Azalia to continue to grow over the next off-season and come back even stronger next year.”
Central Valley compiled a 0-12 record en route to a last-place finish in the 2019 CCC standings.
Ceres High took seventh in the WAC (2-12).
“We are a good team,” Selfridge said. “We’re just in an incredibly talented league, so it’s hard to see how good we are by looking at our scores. Unanimously, the other coaches complimented how much better we were the second time they faced us.”
