NORTH BOSTON, N.Y. – La Roche University volleyball had three players earn AMCC All-Conference honors, as announced by the conference on Tuesday.
The Redhawks concluded the season with a 16-11 overall record and a 5-4 mark in the AMCC. Its first winning season since 2018, La Roche earned the fifth seed in the AMCC Tournament, toppling fourth seeded Wells on the road in four sets, before taking top seeded Penn State Altoona to the wire in a five set defeat in the semifinals.
#4 Mackenzie Kerkan – Senior
The Redhawks libero had a phenomenal 2023 season, as she was not only the defensive leader for La Roche, but also one of the tops in the AMCC to earn her Second Team All-AMCC honors.
Kerkan ended the 2023 season with a league high 538 digs, the sixth most in a single season in program history and tied for the AMCC lead averaging 5.55 digs per set.
Kerkan had five games in which she had 30 or more digs and her season high came against Waynesburg on Sept. 12 where she reeled in 38.
Kerkan's reception ability was great as well, reeling in 561 of 588 attempts on the season.
Offensively, Kerkan saw herself put together 79 assists, 34 service aces and added 13 kills.
#10 Quinn Hughes – Junior
Hughes was an all-around threat for the Redhawks in 2023, dominating on the defensive end and was one of the leaders on offense as well, garnering her Second Team All-AMCC lore.
On the defensive end, Hughes had one of the best seasons in recent memory for La Roche.
Hughes finished the season with an AMCC best 107 total blocks, leading that category by 32 blocks and had a single game high of 10 blocks against Mt. Aloysius on Oct. 3.
Her 107 total blocks are the fifth most in a single season by a Redhawk and she's the first La Roche player since 2014 and the sixth all-time to amass 100 in a season.
Furthermore, Hughes is the first player in the AMCC to average over a block per set since Tiffany Farner of Lake Erie College accomplished the feat in 2006 and 2007
Hughes also led the AMCC in blocks per set with 1.11, also by a wide margin of 0.30.
On the offensive end, Hughes finished with 183 kills, second most on the team and a team best .236 hitting percentage (7th AMCC). She had a season high 17 kills against Wells in the regular season matchup and a single game best hitting percentage of .636 (15 kills-1 error-22 attempts).
#18 Kalli Grine – Sophomore
The Redhawks sophomore middle hitter showed out in her second season with the program, as Grine earned Third Team All-AMCC honors.
Grine was a threat both offensively and defensively, finishing the season with a team best 210 kills (14th in the AMCC) and was second on the team in hitting percentage at .212 (12th AMCC). She had a single game high of 16 in the AMCC Semifinal against Penn State Altoona.
On the defensive end, Grine had 56 digs, but it was blocking ability that paved the way for La Roche, finishing second in the AMCC behind only Hughes in total blocks with 75 and blocks per set with 0.81. Her single game high for blocks was six, coming against Pitt-Bradford on Oct. 7.
Grine also earned AMCC All-Tournament honors as she put together combined stats of 28 kills and eight total blocks in the pair of games for the Redhawks.