OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Johnson County Community College sophomore outside hitter/outside hitter Bella Hedke has been selected as a 2024 Second-Team All-American by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). She becomes the 34th player in team history to be selected NJCAA All-American and the 29th in Division II.
"We are so proud of Bella earning this great achievement this season," said JCCC head coach Jennifer Ei. "She was a big factor in our offense and teams needed to be able to stop her. She is also an incredible blocker who helped us tremendously as we needed to stop other team's offensive threats at the net. Bella worked hard in the spring to make her game stronger, and the results showed this fall. Congratulations to Bella and we look forward to the other accomplishments she will earn at Wayne State."
Hedke, along with her teammates, helped lead the Lady Cavaliers to a 30-7 record, a District Championship and a runner-up finish at the NJCAA Division II National Tournament.
Hedke proved to one of the biggest defensive presences in the conference this past season. A second-team all-conference selection, she led the conference in blocks per set (1.25), which also ranked seventh nationally. She also led the conference with 152 total blocks, 37 more than the second-most recorded. Her 152 total blocks also ranked seventh nationally, and her 138 total block assists were fifth most in country. Adding 268 kills and averaging 2.20 kills per set, Hedke hit .268 offensively and averaged 2.9 points per set.
Hedke also etched her name in the all-time career annuals at JCCC. She tallied 284 total blocks and 258 block assists which rank her tied for 10th and seventh all-time respectively. She recorded the third-most blocks posted in a match with 14 against Heartland on September 6 this season.