Kholstinin Leads Volleyball All-Conference Honors

The Hudson Valley Community College women's volleyball program had four players named to the Mountain Valley All-Conference teams, as voted on by the conference coaches.

Leading the way for the program is Gabriella Kholstinin, a Gansevoort, NY, native, who was named to the all-conference first team as one of the six best players in the conference. Gabriella has become one of the best setters in program history, setting a new single-season program record with 529 assists and becoming the first women's volleyball player to accumulate over 500 assists in a single season. Kholstinin surpassed the 30+ assist threshold eight times, including a career high of 44 assists in the Vikings' marathon five-set match vs. Adirondack on Oct. 8. Gabriella is also an offensive threat, finishing with 50 kills on 249 attack attempts and tallying 29 total service aces in 80 sets played this year. Defensively, Kholstinin recorded 227 digs, the third-best on the team.

Emily Coffey, Abbigail Newell, and Elizabeth Baldes all earned all-conference second-team recognition. Coffey, a freshman from Castleton, NY, played in 81 sets and stepped into a challenging role as the team's primary libero. Coffey finished the year with a team-high 280 digs, averaging 3.46 digs per set, and handled most of the service receptions, totaling 500 serve receptions with only 43 errors. She successfully secured serves 93 percent of the time.

Newell, a sophomore from South Glens Falls, NY, is a two-time all-conference player for the Vikings and has become one of the program's best outside hitters of all time. During her sophomore season, Newell achieved a career high with 127 kills and currently ranks third on the program's career kills list with 347 kills. She has recorded 63 total service aces, placing her just outside the top 10 list, and her defensive skills have her ranked second on the all-time digs list with 615 career digs.

Baldes, a sophomore from Glenmont, NY, earned her first all-conference team honors as she has been a reliable back-row defender over her two years as a Viking. In 81 sets played, she recorded 122 digs and has 344 career digs over 47 career matches. Elizabeth has also served as the team's setter when needed over the last two seasons, accumulating 87 career assists.

The Vikings volleyball program continues to reach new heights as they have earned the No. 5 seed in this weekend's NJCAA Region 3 championships, hosted by Niagara CC on Saturday, Nov. 2-3. The team will play No. 4 Adirondack on Saturday at 11 a.m., and if they win, they will advance to face off against the winner of the No. 1 Finger Lakes and No. 8 Monroe matchup.