PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles High School senior Kiah Jones keeps racking up the honors.
Jones, the Olympic League MVP, was a monster at the net this past season, sparking the Roughriders to a second straight Class 2A state appearance, a first.
She led everybody on the North Olympic Peninsula with 434 kills and 58 blocks to be named the All-Peninsula MVP by area coaches and the PDN sports staff.
Jones, who signed a letter of intent to play volleyball at Central Washington University last week, is a multi-dimensional player as she also had 346 digs and 46 aces this year.
All this attention couldn’t happen to a nicer person.
“Kiah is very caring, kind and fun to be around,” Port Angeles coach Christine Halberg said.
“I will miss her tremendously.”
Jones also was voted most inspirational by her teammates.
“Kiah motivated her teammates and firing them up for matches,” Halberg said.
But don’t think for a second that that niceness impedes on Jones’ dedication to the sport.
“Kiah is a super hard worker,” Halberg said. “For the last two years, she has been working hard toward her goal of playing volleyball in college.
“She has been in the weight room year-round, going to camps and making the classroom a high priority. She was always doing her homework in the bus.”
That dedication to academics has elevated her to a share at the top of her 2012 class with a perfect 4.0 GPA and helped her receive a full scholarship to Central.
She received a 70 percent scholarship for volleyball and the rest is an academic scholarship.
Jones has been schooled both in volleyball and basketball throughout her childhood.
Her father, Scott Jones — a standout former Port Angeles basketball and football player who is the only Port Angeles graduate to play in the NFL — coached her youth basketball teams.
“Volleyball has always been my passion and my love,” Kiah Jones said.
“I enjoy volleyball a lot more than basketball. I play basketball just for fun.”
Fun or not, Kiah Jones made the All-Peninsula basketball team last year as a junior and will be a key member of the Riders this winter season.
Her older sister, Skylar — a 2010 Port Angeles graduate — made the All-Peninsula basketball team as a senior.
The Central volleyball staff gave Kiah Jones the go-ahead to play basketball this winter.
“They encourage it for the cross-training,” Jones said.
The standout two-sport athlete doesn’t plan to be a meek freshman at Central next fall.
“My goal at Central is that I want to make an impact sooner than later,” she said.
“I want to help them become one of the top teams [in conference].”
Central has been in the middle of the pack recently.
As part of that goal, Kiah Jones is getting to know the other new recruits to Central through Facebook and other social media outlets.
“There are four other recruits and we are trying to get to know each other,” she said.
Despite the new challenges and adventures waiting for Jones after graduation, she said she will miss her Port Angeles teammates and coaches.
“It’s hard to leave,” she said. “I have been playing with these girls since the seventh grade.”
