ACCC’s Rock gathers up honors

Nicole Rockhold increased her kill ratio. That was good news for Allen County Community College’s volleyball team.
Rockhold admitted to the Register that receiving All-Jayhawk Conference and All-Region VI, Division II honors was reward for “my hard work. It’s nice to know someone recognized that I worked to improve my game.”
Rockhold, a 5-8 sophomore outside hitter from Oskaloosa, led the Red Devils in kills with 589 this season. That translated into 4.75 kills per set and that statistic led NJCAA Division II volleyball.
“It’s a pretty good feeling to receive the honors. To lead the nation in something is petty cool. I had no idea until about three-quarters of the way through the season,” Rockhold said.
“A friend of mine who plays on the Fort Scott (Community College) team put on my Facebook. ‘Congratulations in leading the nation’ and I wrote back ‘what are you talking about.’ She told me about it.”
As a freshman, Rockhold averaged 3.2 kills per set. She earned second-team all conference honors and honorable mention Region VI.
Rockhold and Andrea Miller were the only sophomores on the 2010 ACCC volleyball team. The were co-captains.
“We really didn’t have a choice about being leaders. We just stepped up to the roles. It was easy working together to help the freshmen. This team ran off energy and momentum during matches,” Rockhold said.
Rockhold served for 44 aces this season and had 537 digs defensively. Rockhold was the go-to person on the team when it needed a kill.
“That’s what I wanted. I’ve always wanted the ball at the end when the set or match was on the line. I was confident in myself and my teammates to put me in the position to get the kill,” Rockhold said.
Rockhold said coming out of Oskaloosa High School, a small Kansas Class 3A school, she knew what she wanted in a college program to play in. She said she had offers but “not what I wanted” and she was steered to Allen County.
“I liked the school,” said the pre-dentistry student, “and JP (ACCC head volleyball coach Jessica Peters) was a coach that would push me. It was the right fit for me and I what we did here the past two years as team will help me.”
After a successful freshman season, Rockhold said she wasn’t satisfied with her game. She said she went over areas she wanted to improve in and knew she had to work on with Coach Peters.
“Andrea was my workout partner during the off-season. We pushed each other in the weight room and in the gym. We used last spring’s volleyball season to work on those areas.”
In her two seasons on the volleyball court for the Red Devils, Rockhold has racked up 986 kills in 2,576 attack attempts. Also at the net, Rockhold had 75 blocks. She served up 65 aces, made 22 set assists and come up with 1,053 defensive digs.
This season she was the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference player of the week twice. She was named to the all-tournament team at Hesston College’s tournament.
“Currently, I’m sending information out to schools and scheduling tryouts. I’m looking to take the next step into a four-year college program to play and finish my education,” Rockhold said.
Rockhold said she still is working hard to improve her volleyball skills. She knows there is always room for improvement.
That attitude makes Rockhold rock solid on the court.