Belleville HS girls’ volleyball players earn All-Area honors

BELLEVILLE – The Belleville High School girls’ varsity volleyball team, under head coach John Spina, enjoyed a stellar 19-9 season.

The Bucs were led by several outstanding players.

The following BHS players have earned Worrall Media All-Area honors:

• Breana Nieves, senior outside hitter. Nieves was named first team All-Super Essex Conference-Liberty Division. “Breana was my best all-around player,” said Spina. “She had a great season, accumulating 200 kills. This is the most that I have had in a single season.  She also led the team in aces with 46.”
• Andrea Nguyen, senior setter. Nguyen was named first team All-SEC-Liberty. “She had a great year setting, earning 434 assists,” Spina said. “She was also great at the service line earning 38 aces.”
• Kristan Lombardi, senior. Lombardi was named second team all-conference. At the beginning of the season, Lombardi was a libero and was playing well, eventually stepping in as an outside hitter in the second half of the season after an injury to Kiara Collazo.  Kristen led the Bucs in digs with 183.  She was also the team’s hghest-rated passer on the season.
• Giselle Luna, junior libero. Luna was selected honorable mention all-conference. She stepped into the rotation as the starting libero after Lombardi  was moved to outside hitter. “She was tremendous at defending the floor,” Spina said.  Luna accumulated 180 digs on the season, most of which came after Oct. 6.  “She had a tremendous season as a full rotation player,” Spina added.
• Gianna Benacquista, junior middle hitter. Benacquista was an honorable mention all-conference selection. She had a breakout season in which she had 94 kills (second on the team) and 141 service points/46 aces, which was the highest on the team. She also had 10 blocks on the year.