Heffer Named CCC Senior Scholar Athlete; Three Golden Bears Earn All-CCC Honors
Chiodini (2nd Team), Roath (2nd Team) and Bundy (3rd Team) recognized along with Heffer
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (October 30, 2017) – Four members of the Western New England University volleyball team were recognized when the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) announced its major award winners and All-Conference selections on Monday evening.
Senior outside hitter Sam Heffer (Bethpage, N.Y.) was named the CCC Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while senior libero Brianna Roath (Jackson, N.J.) and senior outside hitter Emmaline Chiodini (St. Louis, Mo.) earned All-CCC second team honors and freshman middle blocker Abigail Bundy (Lebanon, Conn.) garnered third team accolades.
Heffer is a two-time Academic All-CCC honoree with a 3.94 cumulative grade point average as a Marketing Communications/Advertising & Business Analytics and Information Management double major. She is a member of numerous honor societies, including the Chi Alpha Sigma National Student-Athlete Honor Society and the Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honor Society.
The Bethpage, N.Y. native has served as a web production assistant for Western New England's Division of Marketing and External Affairs since her freshman year, and she spent last summer as an eCommerce Analytics Intern with Canon USA.
In addition to volleyball, Heffer is active on campus as a Peer Tutor and as Treasurer of the Marketing Association. She is on track to graduate early at the conclusion of the fall semester.
On the volleyball court, Heffer is enjoying a career year for the Golden Bears. She is averaging career-highs in kills per set (2.18) and attack percentage (.164), and her 221 points are good for second on the team. Heffer has recorded 10+ kills on seven occasions this fall, including a career-high of 13 at WPI on September 14.
Chiodini earns All-CCC honors for the second consecutive year after being named to the third team following her first season with the program last fall. The St. Louis, Mo. native averaged a team-high 2.63 kills per set and also ranked second on the team with 2.99 digs per set.
Chiodini recorded nine double-doubles in 29 regular season matches, including three straight from September 30-October 4, a stretch that culminated with a 15-kill, 16-dig performance against CCC regular season champion Roger Williams. In Western New England's regular season finale on Saturday, she hit .563 with 11 kills and 11 digs, four aces and two blocks as the Golden Bears rolled to a 3-0 win over Keene State.
Roath caps her career with her first All-Conference selection after posting personal-best numbers during her final collegiate campaign. The senior captain led the CCC with 4.64 digs per set and ranked second with 455 total digs. Roath, who posted 21 10+ dig efforts, recorded a season-high of 35 at WPI.
Rounding out Western New England's All-CCC honorees is Bundy, who made an immediate impact during her first season with the program. The Lebanon, Conn. native averaged 1.53 kills and 0.39 blocks per set in 25 appearances. Bundy posted consecutive 11-kill efforts against Wentworth (Sept. 23) and Gordon (Sept. 26) and finished with multiple blocks on nine occasions.
Western New England (16-13, 5-4 CCC), which earned the fifth seed in the CCC Tournament, will be on the road at No. 4 seed Wentworth in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday night.
