Jordan Sitler prepares a serve this season with the Pitt-Bradford Panthers volleyball team. Photo courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford

Jordan Sitler has received Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) all-conference honors as a Pitt-Bradford freshman for the 2021 volleyball season.

A Warren Area High School graduate in the spring, Sitler finished her high school career third all-time in kills as a middle hitter for the Dragons.

On Wednesday, she was named to the all-AMCC third team. The 5-foot-11 freshman middle finished the year fifh in the conference in blocks with 55 despite missing the Panthers final four games due to injury. She also had 137 kills, 18 service aces, and 49 digs for 18-8 UPB and head coach Tom Roof.

“I’m just so glad to see Jordan get recognized for the year she had and for what she meant to our team,” stated Roof. “To get conference honors as a freshman is a remarkable achievement, but she earned it, worked hard for it, and very much deserved it.

Roof said that Sitler “proved to be one of the top hitters in the conference.”

“I see no reason why she won’t continue to get even better,” he said. “She has an insatiable thirst to work hard and to improve every aspect of her game.”

While Roof expected Sitler to help the program right away, he didn’t initially know how much.

“But she adapted so quickly to the speed and power of the college game; she quickly became not only a real force, but a real leader,” he said. ” … It’s a shame she missed the end of the season, and I think it showed how much we missed her, but I’m positive she’ll come back better and stronger than ever. She’s never had to sit out before and I know she didn’t like it.”

Freshman teammate Olivia Reese, a 5-9 outside hitter from Glendale High School in Flinton, Pa., joins Sitler on the AMCC third team and was named AMCC Newcomer of the Year. Pitt-Bradford senior Emily Cleveland finishes her career with more than 1,000 career kills and a first-team AMCC nod. Junior setter Tabitha Walker was named to the AMCC second team.

Corry graduate Brooke Joncas was also an AMCC third-team all-conference selection as a junior from conference champion Penn State Behrend.