Postseason Honors Awarded to ICCAC Division II Volleyball

Twelve teams competed in Division II Volleyball this season after the additions of Marshalltown and Western Iowa Tech. Three teams tied atop the conference standings after a competitive season -- DMACC, Iowa Central, and Kirkwood finished at 10-1.

DMACC received the No. 1 seed via a tiebreaker and was the regular season conference champion for the first time since 2015. The Bears were led by a trio of players on the First Team.
The top performer for the Bears this season was Emma Flathers. The sophomore setter was second among ICCAC players in assists this season (1331), and fourth in conference play (357). She averaged 9.93 per set, the second highest as well among ICCAC setters.

Kenya Prescott was honored as well on the 2023 First Team list. The sophomore libero was a defensive staple for DMACC all season. She set the school record mark for digs with 1541 in her career in Boone. She also holds the record for digs per set at 5.84. This season Prescott had 783 digs in 38 130 sets, good for 6.02 per set. She ranks fourth in the country in total digs and fifth in digs per set.

Capping off DMACC's selections was right-side Zophi Hendricks. Hendricks was the team's leader in kills at 339 -- with the second-best hitting percentage in the league at .308 overall. She was top 10 in the conference in points with 372.5 while also totaling 61 blocks.

Because of DMACC's team success, Danielle Lopez was named the 2023 Coach of the Year. As mentioned, DMACC won a share of the regular season conference championship for the first time since 2015. The Bears posted a record of 28-10 and held a spot in the NJCAA polls all season long. They reached the Region 11 Championship and fell narrowly to Iowa Central 3-2 and finished as the runner-up.

She is the first coach not named Sara Horn (Iowa Central) to win the award (coach of the No. 1 seed) since 2018, breaking the five-year streak.

For the fifth year in a row, the 2023 ICCAC Player of the Year came from Iowa Central, the 2023 Region 11 Tournament Champions. This season, the award went to setter Mercedes Madlock who paced the Tritons to their fourth-straight national tournament appearance. Madlock has 1280 assists heading to Cedar Rapids next week, seventh-most in the NJCAA. Her 10.32 assists per set is the sixth-most in the country --- and is the only player in the ICCAC to average double-digit assists per set.

Madlock is the second setter in team history to win the award after Alesha Johnson won back-to-back Player of the Year awards in Spring 2021 and 2021.

Joining Madlock on the First Team was outside hitter Noêmia Chiacchio. From a school that has produced some of the ICCAC's top hitters in recent memory, Chiachio filled right in. The sophomore led the conference in kills per set at 3.89 and has 478 total leading up to the National Tournament. She had nine or more kills in 33 of 36 matches played this season.

Chiacchio is also an elite server. She broke the school record for aces in a season totaling 104.

Kirkwood's libero Lily Van Severen represented the Eagles as their top selection and was named the 2023 Freshman of the Year. Van Severen had 584 digs while averaging 4.29 per set, helping the Eagles to a top 5 NJCAA ranking to end the season. She added 111 assists and was the Eagle's top receiver picking up 618 receptions.

Emma Cross was the Eagle's top hitter this season. She was third in the conference in kills with 408 total, 3.11 per set.

Picking up the last three spots on the First Team were two outside hitters and a right-side hitter.

The two outsides were Lillian Simpson of Southeastern and Ana Clara Cuartero of Ellsworth. Both led their teams to some of the best seasons in team history.

Cuartero had 334 kills and powered the Panthers to the No. 4 seed and a 28-6 record. She came on strong in the second half of the season, ending the year with double-digit kills in nine of the final 12 matches including three 19-kill performances in a four-match stretch.

Simpson was the conference leader in kills as the Blackhawks relied on her heavy hand all season long. Simpson racked up 512 kills, 3.51 per set. She also was one of the best defenders for SCC as well with 689 digs, 4.72 per set. The do-it-all player was top five in the conference in kills, kills per set, total attacks, receptions, digs, and points.

Ellie Gerdes represented Hawkeye on this list, rounding out the 10 players on the First Team. Gerdes hit .307, third-highest in the league, to notch 256 kills to go along with 29 blocks.