Rylea Simonich Earns Second Team All-ACCAC & All-Region I Division II Honors

PHOENIX ---

Freshman middle blocker Rylea Simonich of the SMCC women's volleyball team earned Second Team All-ACCAC and All-Region I Division II honors after a sensational 2023 season. Originally from Phoenix, Simonich led all conference players with 66 solo blocks and added 212 kills, 22 service aces, and 71 digs for the season. 

In 16 ACCAC conference matches, Simonich had 116 kills and 20 errors in 282 attacks to finish with a .340 hitting percentage. She added nine service aces, 43 digs, 41 solo blocks and 16 block assists over the conference slate of games. 

"We are so proud of the work that Rylea has put in this season," said SMCC head coach Melissa Joseph. "Her stats clearly reflect her physicality and talent within our conference. To add, her work ethic, coachability and desire to be great, are also reflected in those stats. She was a huge part of both our offense and defense and we are excited to see how much she develops in our off-season." 

Simonich recorded a season-high 10 solo blocks in a home victory over Ottawa (AZ) on Sept. 26 and had nine other matches with at least three solo blocks. She had six stuffs in a road win at Phoenix College and five in a five-set loss to Pima CC on Oct. 25. She finished with 42 more solo blocks than her nearest competitor for the season and 21 more in the conference season. 

Simonich had 10 matches with at least 10 kills and posted a season-high 15 in a five-set victory at Mesa CC on Sept. 22. She recorded a season-high four service aces in a five-set home victory over Glendale CC on Oct. 11. She recorded a season-high 10 digs in a non-conference match at Chandler-Gilbert CC on Sept. 23.