College of the Canyons sophomore volleyball player Emily Burns has signed a National Letter of Intent with San Diego State University, choosing to continue her career as an Aztec after a season in which she earned conference Player of the Year and All-State team honors, and led the Cougars to the California Community College Athletic Association State Championship tournament.

SDSU is an NCAA Division I program competing in the Mountain West Conference.

Burns, who graduated from Valencia High School, will enroll at SDSU in the spring 2018 semester before beginning her junior campaign in the fall.

A two-year starter for COC head coach Clay Timmons, Burns put together an impressive career during her time as a Cougar.

After earning All-Western State Conference honors as a freshman Burns etched her name into program history during her sophomore season by becoming just the sixth Cougar to earn Western State Conference Player of the Year honors, and the first to do so under Timmons.

In 2017, Burns helped lead the Cougars to a 22-5 regular season record and 7-1 conference mark, resulting in a co-conference championship with Bakersfield College. The title was the program’s fourth in the last five years (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017).

Canyons then cruised through the first two rounds of the postseason to earn a trip to the 2017 CCCAA State Championship tourney. COC’s appearance at the state championship was just the third in program history.

After sweeping Feather River College in its opening match, COC finished just short of reaching its first state final game when the Cougars lost to eventual-state champion Irvine Valley College in a heartbreaking five-set result.

Burns finished the season with a combined 502 kills through 31 matches, to rank second in the state. Her mark of 4.61 kills per set also ranked fifth in the state. She also ranked seventh with 67 aces.

Stay up to date on all this season’s action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

— Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information