Western Nebraska Community College’s Soriana Pacheco isn’t much for individual honors, but the 5-foot-10 sophomore setter earned one of the biggest honors Saturday by being named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Year. “When coach [Chris Green] told me, I didn’t expect this award because I just do my best,” Pacheco said. “It really wasn’t for me alone, it was more for my team and my coaches. During the whole season, I never thought about getting individual honors. I was just playing and doing the best I can all the time.”
Pacheco was the quarterback of a Cougar team that won the school’s first national title Nov. 17 in a 4-game win over Miami Dade College. A few weeks later, Pacheco garnered her second straight NJCAA first team All-American honor. Now, Pacheco has been tabbed the AVCA player of the year.
Pacheco, who set a school record with most ace serves in a season, said that her number one goal this season was to win a national championship, nothing else. She achieved that one goal and as added many other national honors on top of that.
“I like the honor [of player of they year and also the national championship], but it is not just for me,” she said. “I am happy and it is important to happen at WNCC, but I am most happy for my coach because he really wanted to be a national champion. During the season, he was talking to me all the time, saying ‘Sori, I trust you to lead the team.’ I played for my team and for me, but the big thing was for my coach because he really deserved this honor.”
Pacheco is the second Cougar athlete to receive a Player of the Year honor. Bernard Garner was tabbed Player of the Year in 1995 when he helped lead the men’s basketball team to a third place finish at the national tournament.
WNCC coach Chris Green said with everything that this team has accomplished this season, this is great for the program because Pacheco was a driving force that helped lead the team to the national title.
“She is a competitor and I think she has always played well in big games,” Green said. “Her relaxed demeanor allowed our team to just keep fighting, keep working as a team, and allowed us to come from behind for the win.
“Sori does not show a lot of emotion on the court, but deep down she is very competitive. Her decisions on the court were usually good ones. She really did put the team ahead of herself as far as getting the job done.”
Pacheco was also selected as a first-team AVCA All-American. Pacheco’s teammate Jennifer Eichler, who she sat several times this season, earned AVCA and NJCAA second-team All-American honors. Fatima Balza also earned honorable mention NJCAA All-American honors.
Green said it will be tough to replace an athlete like Pacheco next season.
“She is very deceptive, keeping the opposing blockers guessing,” he said. “She also gets the ball to her hitters quickly, which allows us to run a quicker offense. She is a very strong setter, being able to push the ball across the court with ease.
“We will have a hard time replacing Soriana. We will look for a setter who can do some of the things Soriana has done. We do have one setter recruited along with a setter/hitter.”
Pacheco will head to Kansas State for the next two years and she is going there with the same mind frame that she had here – win as a team.
“I don’t expect anything right now because I am going to do my best at Kansas State like I did at WNCC,” she said. “Right now I am not going there thinking I have to be an all-American. I am just going to play.”
This is Pacheco’s second player of the year honor. She earned her first one in 2004 on the Venezuelan National Team when she was named the best setter in the whole country in the South America championships.
The awards will be presented at a banquet next week, but because Pacheco is slated to head back to Venezuela on Thursday, Green will attend the convention and receive the honor for her. The AVCA even tried to switch her plane tickets, but couldn’t manage to it.
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