Catawba Valley Community College setter Emilee Webber has signed with Belmont Abbey College. With her, front row from left , are: Bryon Webber and Melinda Webber, and back row, from left: CVCC assistant coach Mark Wimberley and CVCC head coach Shannon Hudson./PHOTO BY CODY DALTON, CATAWBA VALLEY ATHLETICS
HobbsDailyReport.com
HICKORY – Setter Emilee Webber signed this week to play college volleyball at Belmont Abbey, making her the 27th player from the Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) program to then play at a four-year school.
Webber, who starred in high school at North Lincoln, will join former CVCC player Aimee Cloninger (2013-15) as Red Hawks who went on to play at Belmont Abbey.
“It’s definitely exciting,” Webber said of her signing in a CVCC press release. “This has been a goal since I ever started playing volleyball just to keep continuing playing on.
“This is the next level for me, and I couldn’t have done it without the program here at Catawba Valley and my coaches, teammates and everyone encouraging me. I’m very happy.”
A sophomore at CVCC, she finished her career there with 1,520 assists, third on the school’s all-time list, and she is also third all-time with 1,000 career assists.
Webber played in 82 career matches (273 sets), tallying 222 kills, 149 aces, 612 digs and accounting for 385 points for the Red Hawks.
“Emilee is a servant leader,” CVCC head coach Shannon Hudson said in the press release. “I think that’s a good way to describe her.
“If any of our hitters wanted to get extra touches, (assistant) coach Mark (Wimberley) would say to bring a setter. Emilee would come every time.
“She was always here trying to help make the team better as a whole. She is a very selfless, dedicated player…
“We are really going to miss her next year — from her leadership to her setting ability. She is such a precision setter. She knew her hitters really well and got the ball to them.
“She and (middle hitter) Emma (Clark) really connected this year. We are definitely going to miss her presence on the court for sure.”
Webber and fellow sophomores Emily Williams, Karsyn Mundy and Na-Diea Atkins helped guide a group of 16 sophomores this season as CVCC won a seventh straight league title and finished 36-10.
The Red Hawks finished ninth in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) tournament in Charleston, W. Va. – the program’s second-best finish – and they won three matches for the first time in the national event.
“Working through the season together and fixing little kinks in the system and finally playing together at the end and going as far as we did — I couldn’t expect anything less,” Webber said. “I’m just super proud of the group as a whole. I’m happy how it ended.”
— Reported by CVCC Sports Information