(KJCCC) March 3, 2021 – Exceptional efforts by conference athletes lead to recognition in Week 6 of the KJCCC Athletes of the Week voting.
Division II Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week
Johnson County sophomore forward LaJahda Boyland helped the No. 3-ranked Lady Cavaliers improve 10-0 on the season, averaging 16.5 points and 13.0 rebounds per game in two games last week. She shot 43 percent from the field and 74 percent at the free throw line. Boyland opened the week with 20 points and 17 rebounds in an 86-38 win over Metropolitan. Her 20 points set a new career high and her 17 boards are the second-most game total in her career. She capped the week with 12 points and nine rebounds in a 65-53 win over No. 4 Kansas City Kansas.
Division II Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week
Johnson County sophomore guard Jaycson Bereal averaged 16.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 blocks while leading the No.6-ranked Cavaliers to a pair of wins last week. He also shot 58 percent from the field, and 40 percent beyond the arc. He opened the week with 21 points, three boards, three assists and two blocks in a 98-67 win over Metropolitan. Bereal hit 82 percent of his shot attempts, going 9-for-11. He capped the week with 11 points and nine rebounds in a 74-65 win over Kansas City Kansas in both team's conference opener. For the season Bereal is averaging 13.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 blocks. He is shooting 52 percent from the field.
Division I Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week
Skyla Knight, sophomore transfer from Arkansas Little Rock, helped lead the Butler Grizzlies to a pair of road wins last week keeping their winning streak alive at 10-0 this season. Knight scored 15 points Monday night in Concordia collecting four steals while making 7-8 free throws. On Saturday, Knight led all scorers with 18 points in the Grizzlies 22-point road win over Independence. Knight finished with seven rebounds and four steals in her 26 minutes played. Knight is averaging 14.7ppg on the year land has led the No. 9 Butler Grizzlies to the top spot in the KJCCC East.
Division I Men's Basketball Athlete of the Week
Hutchinson Blue Dragon sophomore forward Matt Mayers had three more double-doubles last week to lead the Blue Dragon men to a 3-0 week. Mayers averaged 22.0 points and 13.0 rebounds while shooting 60.0 percent from the field last week as Hutchinson defeated Dodge City, Northwest Tech and Seward County. He had 35 points and 13 boards in a huge win over Dodge City that moved the Blue Dragons into a first-place tie with the Conquistadors.
Division I Volleyball Athletes of the Week
Offensive Player: Jenna Thorne (Hutchinson CC) - Sophomore outside hitter Jenna Thorne hit .269 and led the Blue Dragons to a 4-0 week. Thorne had double-doubles in Blue Dragon Classic wins over Indian Hills (4 sets) and Mineral Area (5 sets). Against Mineral Area, Thorne was held to just four kills over the first three sets, but came to life with eight kills combined in the fourth and fifth sets to lead the Blue Dragon comeback. She had 20 kills on .240 hitting against Indian Hills.
Mylena Testoni struck for a .473 percentage with a pair of double-double performances in Barton's 2-1 week. Hitting .680 in Monday's win over Dodge City, Testoni recorded a season high 18 kills on 25 swings with 15 digs for her first double-double of the week. Testoni nearly had her second on Thursday at 6th ranked Seward County with eight kills and 14 digs then on Saturday in Garden City had 10 kills and 13 digs as the double-double knocked Garden City from the conference unbeaten with the sweep.
Setter: Chloe Price (Hutchinson CC) - Hutchinson sophomore setter Chloe Price posted two double-doubles in two of the biggest non-conference wins this season at the Blue Dragon Classic and she led the Blue Dragons to a 4-0 week. Price averaged 9.00 set assists per set and had a .353 conversion percentage as the Blue Dragons defeated Butler, Central Nebraska, Indian Hills and Mineral Area last week. She also averaged 0.81 kills, 2.31 digs, 0.56 blocks and 0.38 service aces. Price had a double-double of 32 assists and 12 digs in a four-set Blue Dragon Classic win over Indian Hills. She then put together 43 assists and 13 digs in a come-from-behind five-set win over Mineral Area.
Defensive Player: Kristina Head (Hutchinson CC) - Hutchinson Community College freshman middle Kristina Head came up big in a 4-0 week for the Blue Dragons. She averaged 1.38 blocks per set and 1.31 digs per set. Head had 22 total blocks (4 solo, 17 block assists) with a career-high seven in a Jayhawk West victory over Butler. She had five blocks and a career-high 11 digs to go with seven kills and two ace serves in a five-set Blue Dragon victory over Mineral Area at the Blue Dragon Classic.
Division II Volleyball Athletes of the Week
KJCCC Division II Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week
Iva Halacheva, Cowley College Sophomore Outside Hitter, Plovdiv, Bulgaria - Iva Halacheva moved into 11th place in career kills at Cowley College (725) after posting 92 kills in the Lady Tigers four matches on the week. She added 25 digs and three aces, while averaging 6.13 kills per set to go along with a .407 hitting percentage.
KJCCC Division II Volleyball Setter of the Week
Gracie Story, Cowley College Freshman Setter, Holliday, Texas - Freshman Gracie Story eclipsed the 50 assist mark in two of Cowley's four matches on the week. The setter from Holliday, TX, recorded an impressive 11.93 assists on the week and had her fifth double-double of the season with 50 assists and 14 digs in a win over Allen County.
KJCCC Division II Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week
Mattie Dougherty, Allen Community College Sophomore Libero, Atchison, KS - Libero Mattie Dougherty had a stellar week for the Red Devils with a 7.27 dig per set average. Dougherty stepped up her play as Allen faced some of the conference's best hitters last week. She registered 80 digs in the three matches is currently first in the Jayhawk East in total digs.
Division I Softball Athletes of the Week
Player: Madison Grimes (Hutchinson) - Hutchinson Community College freshman third baseman Madison Grimes is blistering hot through the first eight games of her collegiate career. Over six games this past week, Grimes was 14 of 18 for a .778 batting average and a .783 on-base percentage. Including her 14 digs, Grimes walked four times. She scored 10 runs and drove in 14 Grimes had multi-hit games in each game and has now hit safely in all eight Hutch game this season. For the season, Grimes is 20 for 26 (.769) with 19 RBIs, 15 runs and two home runs. Grimes was also perfect on 21 defensive chances last week.
Pitcher: Danika Utajara (Dodge City) - Danika Utajara picked up two wins in two starts in the Conquistadors first week of the 2021 season. She went the distance in both of her starts going 2-0 with 18 strikeouts in her 14 innings pitched. Utajara gave up 0 earned runs, 10 hits, and only 2 walks on the week.
Division II Softball Athletes of the Week
KJCCC Division II Softball Player of the Week
Taylor Glause, Cloud County Freshman Catcher, Malcolm, NE - Taylor Glause had a monster debut in her first two games as a T-Bird, helping Cloud County to a season-opening sweep of the Bethany College JV. After driving in four of Cloud County's seven runs in game one, Glause would go three-for-three in game two with two home runs and five RBI as her other hit would come as a triple. For the week, Glause had a 2.000 slugging percentage and .714 batting average to go along with a .750 on-base percentage.
KJCCC Division II Softball Pitcher of the Week
Kyla Etter, Johnson County Freshman Pitcher, Eudora, KS - Johnson County freshman right-handed pitcher Kyla Etter finished the week 2-0 with 15 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched. She scattered seven hits while allowing just two runs. She opened the season with a one-hit shutout with five strikeouts against Marshalltown. In her next start she struck out 10 batters in six innings in a 10-2 win over Kirkwood.
Baseball Athlete of the Week
Jordan Ellison led the Barton offense posting a 1.143 slugging percentage and .429 batting average backed by three round trippers and five RBI's helping Barton to a season opening sweep over Western Nebraska. Ellison recorded a solo shot home run and double in Saturday's opener, carrying the hot bat into the nightcap collecting his second multi-hit game connecting on a pair of big fly's in the Cougars' thrilling 11-10 win in extras. In Sunday's contests, Ellison extended his hit streak with singles in each contest while adding another RBI helping the Cougars' complete the sweep.
Kolby Dougan showed out in a big way in his second career start for the T-Birds as the freshman would toss five innings of no-hit baseball to lead Cloud County to a 10-3 win over Labette at the University of Central Oklahoma JUCO Festival in Edmond, OK. Allowing just one base runner on a walk in his final inning, Dougan would strikeout 13 of the 16 batters he faced while throwing just 75 pitches to earn his first collegiate win.