‘She’s an athlete who can do all things well.’ Buhach Colony’s Baptista named CCC MVP.

When Buhach Colony High girls volleyball coach Adrienne Beltrami handed Miranda Baptista a patch, the Thunder junior thought it was a Central California Conference championship patch.

When she saw it she realized it was for earning Most Valuable Player and Baptista was shocked.

“Are you sure?” Baptista asked. “I thought it was a patch because we won CCC. I looked at it and I was like, ‘Are you sure you’re giving it to the right person?’ I was in disbelief.”

Baptista did a little of everything to help lead the Thunder to their first conference championship since 2007. Baptista played setter, defender, outside and right side hitter at times.

“Miranda is an all-around great volleyball player,” said Beltrami, who was also named the CCC Coach of the Year. “She’s an athlete who can do all things well. She can hit, she’s a setter, she’s great on defense, she passes well. She can play every position.”

Baptista was ready to do whatever was asked of her.

“In club ball, I only get to set,” Baptista said. “In high school I play everywhere. I play outside, middle back, right side. It’s fun because it’s different. I kind of puts me out of my comfort zone and I think that helps make me a better athlete.”

The other top awards voted on by the CCC coaches went to Buhach Colony senior Mallory Pazin as Setter of the Year and El Capitan seniors Robin Helms as Defensive Player of the Year and Paige Martin as Offensive Player of the Year.

“I definitely think Mallory was a big part in our success,” Beltrami said. “As a setter her distribution of the ball was great, so was her tempo and she’s a fabulous defender as well. She has good court sense.”

Beltrami said she would have loved to see more of her players receive recognition but CCC rules limit the number of nominees from teams.

Buhach Colony outside hitters Cameron Gray and Maggie Seifert were also selected to the all-CCC first team and middle blocker Morgan Johnson received honorable mention.

Helms and Martin were both team captains and played a big role in El Capitan challenging the Thunder for the CCC championship.

“They were extremely important,” said El Capitan coach Chela Moreno. “We needed them. Paige helped us out defensively and offensively. Defensively for us, Robin was a huge part for us with the block. If she didn’t get the block she would at least get a touch on it and we could play off that.”

Rounding out the rest of the all-CCC first team are Merced’s Roy Foroutan and Ellie Hamm, El Capitan’s Natalie Collins and Golden Valley’s Zoya Wood.

The second team was comprised of: Abena Appiah (Patterson), Lexi Valencia (Atwater), Brianna Quiroz (Central Valley), Payton Minor (Golden Valley), Madi Kane (Mered) and Yatzary Lua (El Capitan).

Honorable mention went to: Kelsey Valencia (Atwater), Mikayla Kaufhardt (El Capitan), Aleena Jimenez (Golden Valley), Ashlynn Chatham (Merced), Lara Perry (Patterson) and Kaydee Peterman (Central Valley).

This story was originally published November 15, 2018 at 1:48 PM.