Former Ankeny Centennial volleyball standouts Delainey Winkel and Taylor Bechen are still enjoying a lot of success at the collegiate level.
Now teammates at the University of Dubuque, the two juniors both received some postseason honors after helping the Spartans to a 26-5 record and the American Rivers Conference regular season title.
Winkel, an outside hitter, became the first Dubuque player ever to receive first-team all-American honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She was also named the Region IX Player of the Year and the ARC Most Valuable Player after an historic season.
Winkel terrorized opposing defenses throughout the season, racking up 409 kills at a .223 hitting percentage. She also added 352 digs and 23 blocks.
Winkel twice received ARC volleyball offensive player of the week and was named ARC female athlete of the week once during the season. She was also named to three all-tournament teams along with Bechen.
Bechen, meanwhile, received honorable mention all-American honors along with teammate Ashley Glennon. Bechen is a libero/defensive specialist who finished the year with 670 digs and will be in contention for several program records during her senior season.
Bechen and Glennon joined Winkel on the all-region first team, becoming the 14th and 15th players in program history to receive that honor. Bechen was earlier selected the ARC Defensive Player of the Year.
Bechen was named to the Oshkosh all-regional tournament team after tallying 55 digs across two matches. She received five ARC volleyball defensive player of the week awards while averaging 5.69 digs per set, the highest total in the conference by a wide margin.