Urbanska, Maldonado named All-Americans
WC freshmen volleyball players Weronika Urbanska and Gabriella Maldonado earned All-America honors, marking a historic achievement with five All-American athletes for the college in 2024.
Weatherford College's Weronika Urbanska and Gabriella Maldonado were named on the Division I All-America Volleyball team list by the National Junior College Athletic Association.
Both freshmen, Urbanska made the second team, and Maldonado was named to the third team, as well as being selected for the All-Tournament Team at the NJCAA Division I National Tournament.
With these newest awards, WC now has five All-American athletes in 2024, the most in a calendar year in school history.
A 6-foot outside hitter from Warsaw, Poland, Urbanska had an impressive 2024 season, including being named Player of the Year in the Northern Texas Junior College Athletic Conference. Playing in 39 matches, Urbanska came away with 594.5 points, ranking third in the nation. She also came in fourth in the nation with 489 kills and eleventh in the nation with 70 service aces.
"Weronika has been a pretty steady part of our offense all year," said Head Coach Kailee May. "She helps the team get fired up and can bring some great energy to the court. As a freshman, she had a huge role on the team, playing six rotations and being a key part of serve receiving and defense, as well as attacking. She handled it very well over the course of the season and really grew into a leadership role as the season progressed."
Maldonado, a 6-foot right-side hitter from Joshua High School, also played at an outstanding level this season. She competed in a total of 38 matches, with 254 kills, averaging 2.13 kills per set, and 78 total blocks.
"Gabbie is the type to just put her head down and go to work," May said. "She is extremely competitive and works hard all the time. After about the first third of the season, Gabbie found her stride and really became a go-to on the right side. She also puts up a great block, which really helped us slow down our opponents. She was unstoppable in conference play and played extremely well at the national tournament."
The Coyotes (32-8) won the conference title for the third year in a row and made the national tournament for the second straight year.