No. 14 Snow College Volleyball Has a Freshman Blocker Making an Early Mark

Snow College women’s volleyball heads into its next Utah weekend with a No. 14 ranking, a 7-4 record, and a freshman middle blocker already carrying a conference weekly award. Emily Kenison, a 6-foot-1 freshman from Clinton and Syracuse High School, was named the Scenic West Athletic Conference Player of the Week after Snow’s two ranked wins at the Laramie County Community College Invitational.

The award arrives with numbers that are hard to mistake for a ceremonial early-season line. Through 26 sets in Snow College’s September 3 release, Kenison had 48 kills, 32 total blocks, a .342 hitting percentage, and just 10 errors on 111 attacks. The Badgers went 2-1 at the Starr Corporation Invitational in Twin Falls on September 4-5, beating Treasure Valley Community College 3-1 and Central Wyoming College 3-0 either side of a 3-0 loss to Western Nebraska Community College. That moved Snow to 7-4 heading into its next Utah stop, the Bruin Bash at Salt Lake Community College on September 11-12.

Kenison's individual line below is the one Snow College published on September 3, covering her first 26 sets. The department has not published updated individual totals since, so those numbers stay dated to that release rather than carried forward.

Snow College’s No. 14 ranking already faced four ranked opponents

Snow College’s 5-3 start was built against an unusually tough first invitational. The September 3 Snow College Athletics report says the Badgers split four matches at the Laramie County Community College Invitational, beating No. 16 Colby Community College and No. 11 Casper College while falling to No. 3 Northeastern Junior College and New Mexico Military Institute.

The Colby result was a 3-0 sweep. Snow recorded 37 kills to Colby’s 25, held a 6-0 blocks advantage, and totaled 39 digs. The release named Lily Grant as the team assist leader with 23, while Aleah McDaniel and Saidey Spencer each logged 10 digs.

The Casper win had a little more work in it. Snow took the match 3-1, opening with 25-12 and 25-20 set wins, dropping the third set 25-18, then closing 25-20. The Badgers led 48-37 in kills and 11-6 in blocks; McDaniel produced 17 kills, while Grant added 30 assists and 22 digs.

Those two wins are the proof point behind the ranking, not a prediction about the rest of the season. Snow College Athletics reported the Badgers were averaging 10.5 kills, 13.6 digs, and 2.3 blocks per set through the first eight matches.

Emily Kenison’s first college weeks were built at the net

Kenison’s SWAC honor followed those Laramie matches. Snow College’s release identifies the weekly recognition as a conference award announced Tuesday and ties it to season highs in kills, blocks, digs, and points during the two victories. The department did not publish the single-match season-high totals in that release, so they are not supplied here.

What Snow did publish is plenty specific. Kenison had 48 kills and 32 total blocks in 26 sets, which works out to 1.85 kills and 1.23 blocks per set. She had one solo block and 31 block assists, plus 14 digs and 68.5 total points.

The efficiency line is as notable as the block total. Kenison’s .342 hitting percentage came on 111 total attacks with 10 errors. For an early-season freshman report, it establishes a clear role: she is contributing as both an attacking middle and a front-row defender, not just appearing in a lineup card.

Her Snow College roster page provides the Utah connection behind the stat line. Kenison is listed as a Clinton native and Syracuse High School graduate, with middle blocker as her position. No team roster can tell a full career story in September, but it can put a first conference award in the right place: a Utah freshman producing immediately for a nationally ranked junior-college program.

The next verified Utah date is the Bruin Bash

Snow’s September 3 preview scheduled its next Utah event for Friday and Saturday, September 11-12, at SLCC’s Bruin Bash in Taylorsville. The Badgers are listed to open Friday against Eastern Wyoming College at 11:30 a.m., then face No. 8 Trinity Valley Community College at 5:30 p.m.

Saturday’s listed slate is even sharper. Snow is scheduled to meet No. 1 Miami Dade College at 9 a.m. and Odessa College at 2 p.m. Those matchups are an immediate chance to test the No. 14 ranking and an early block total against another group of nationally ranked opponents.

Conference play starts the following weekend. Snow hosts Salt Lake Community College at the Horne Activity Center in Ephraim on September 18 and 19 — the Badgers' first Scenic West matches of the season and their first home dates of the year, since all 11 matches so far have come at neutral-site invitationals.

Key facts: Snow College volleyball’s September snapshot

• Ranking: No. 14 in the NJCAA Division I volleyball ranking cited by Snow College Athletics on September 3
• Record: 7-4 through 11 matches, all at neutral-site invitationals
• Ranked wins: No. 16 Colby Community College (3-0) and No. 11 Casper College (3-1)
• Player of the Week: Emily Kenison, freshman middle blocker from Clinton and Syracuse High School
• Kenison through 26 sets: 48 kills, 32 total blocks, 14 digs, 68.5 points, .342 hitting percentage
• Starr Corporation Invitational, September 4-5: 2-1 — beat Treasure Valley 3-1 and Central Wyoming 3-0, lost to Western Nebraska 3-0
• Next Utah event: Bruin Bash at SLCC, September 11-12; No. 8 Trinity Valley and No. 1 Miami Dade are on the posted schedule
• Conference opener: vs Salt Lake Community College, September 18-19 in Ephraim — Snow's first home matches of the season