Rice First-Team All-NCAC For Second Straight Year

Tiffany Rice

College of Wooster senior outside hitter Tiffany Rice (Canton, Ohio / Canton McKinley) put the stamp on a spectacular volleyball career by being named to the All-North Coast Athletic Conference First Team for the second consecutive year, as announced by league officials on Thursday, Nov. 10. Joining Rice on the all-league team were a pair of sophomores in outside hitter Carolyn Ciriegio (Covington, Ohio / Covington) and setter Heather Wolff (Mansfield, Ohio / Madison Comprehensive), who were selected second-team and honorable mention, respectively.

Rice, a three-time all-conference pick as she also was a second-team selection in 2003, saved her best for last as she posted one of the greatest individual seasons in Wooster volleyball history. When the campaign finally came to a close in the semifinals of the NCAC Tournament, she had racked up a school-record 541 kills, averaging a league-high 4.75 per game, and tied her career high with a .344 attack percentage. Rice posted double-figure kill totals in all but two matches this season, including a career-high 32 against Ohio Athletic Conference runner-up Baldwin-Wallace College. For her career, she accumulated a school-record 1,750 kills and is the only Scot to post three 400-kill seasons and earn first-team all-conference recognition twice. Rice also finished with 59 service aces, 788 digs, and 234 total blocks, which ranks her fifth on Wooster’s all-time list.

Carolyn Ciriegio

After a productive freshman year, Ciriegio had a breakthrough season in 2005 to earn her first all-conference honor as she teamed with Rice to form one of the top hitting combinations in the NCAC. Ciriegio recorded 435 kills, the fifth-highest total in school history, and averaged 3.82 per game on a career-high .273 attack percentage. She and Rice were the only teammates in the conference to tally more than 400 kills apiece. One of the most versatile players in the league, Ciriegio finished 10th in the NCAC with a career-high 4.62 digs per game, totaling 527 in all, and tallied double-figures in all but one contest on the year. One of her best matches of the season came in a 3-1 win over regionally-ranked Capital University when she went for a career-high 27 kills in addition to contributing 21 digs. For her career, she has already accumulated 916 digs to go with 550 kills, 45 service aces, and 68 total blocks.

Heather Wolff

Rounding out Wooster’s All-NCAC selections is Wolff, who was a second-team honoree a year ago. Wolff was the cornerstone of the Scots’ devastating attack, which set a new school single-season record with 1,762 kills this fall. The attackers can thank Wolff for most of those putdowns, as she set a new Wooster record with 1,501 assists this season, finishing second in the NCAC and currently No. 5 in the nation with 13.17 per game. She passed out over 50 assists on 11 occasions, including a career-high 69 against Denison University. For the season, Wolff also contributed 99 kills, 32 service aces, 262 digs, and 36 total blocks. In just two years at Wooster, Wolff is already the school’s leader in career assists with 2,669.

For the year, Wooster posted its most successful season since 1984, finishing 25-7 overall, including beating NCAA Div. III playoff participants Hiram College (28-4) and Capital University (32-4), and winning the Capital and Westminster (Pa.) tournaments. Of the Scots’ losses, three came during the conference regular season as Wooster finished fourth overall at 5-3.