November 9, 2022

The latest edition of our State Spotlights features Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina and Wisconsin. Below we run through highlighting the respective champs from each of the six states. MISSOURI Lafayette (32-6) finished its season on a 21-match winning streak after defeating Kickapoo in four sets, 25-19, 24-26, 25-10, 25-17, to capture the Class 5 state championship. The Lancers had one of the more interesting seasons for a state champion so far. We had Lafayette – currently sitting at No. 17 – ranked in the Top 20 heading into the Nike TOC Southeast tournament in Tampa Bay. It started off well as the under-seeded Lancers upset top seed Ponte Vedra FL in the first match. Tampa Prep FL was the only school to defeat Lafayette that weekend. The following weekend is when the rough patch started as Lafayette lost four consecutive matches and five of eight during one stretch and fell out of the Top 50. The four straight came to tough schools in St. Teresa’s Academy, Skutt Catholic NE, Aquinas KS and Eureka. Aquinas eventually claimed the Kansas 5A state title and Skutt the Nebraska Class B crown. The choppy waters finally calmed after a loss to Nixa. That came in straight sets on Sept. 23. The Lancers didn’t lose again. It included avenging a loss to Eureka, as well as defeating Liberty and Liberty North (twice). In terms of what’s back next season for the Lancers, it’s a mixed bag. Kill leader and sophomore outside Maya Witherspoon is among those returning. She had 339 kills and averaged 3.2 per set. Junior outside Allison Risley (2.6 kills per set) joins her, as does junior setter Alyssa Nelson. The Lancers will miss the production of senior outside Caitlyn Little. The trio of Witherspoon, Risley and Little combined for 43 kills in the final’s victory against Kickapoo. Class 4: Westerminster Christian d Incarnate Word Academy 25-21, 17-25, 25-19, 25-23 Class 3: Blair Oaks d Pleasant Hill 25-15, 25-8, 25-23 Class 2: Jefferson d Hermann 16-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-19 Class 1: Advance d Miller 11-25, 25-15, 21-25, 25-9, 15-12 *** NEBRASKA Papillion-LaVista South went 4-0 against Omaha Westside this season. The latest was the most important, as it came in the Class A state championship. The Titans (34-5) swept, 25-23, 20-25, 25-15, 25-17. Omaha Westside upset then-No. 20 Lincoln Southwest in the semifinals. That kept a third meeting between Papillion-LaVista South and Lincoln Southwest from taking place. Papillion-LaVista South was 0-2 against Lincoln Southwest this fall. Top-ranked Cathedral Catholic CA and St. James Academy KS also picked up victories over the Titans this fall, as did Millard West, which Papillion-LaVista South went 2-1 against. The 1-2 punch of junior Lauren Medeck and senior Stella Adeyemi on the outside carried the offense. The duo combined for over 750 kills. They hooked up for 46 in the state final. Senior libero Kenzie Dyrstad averaged 4.4 digs per set. While she’ll be gone next season, joining Medeck in returning is sophomore setter Charlee Solomon and junior setter Kyla Dyrstad. The setting duo had nearly 1,100 assists combined this fall. Omaha Westside went 1-2 against Lincoln Southwest in the regular season. However, the Warriors couldn’t break through against Papillion-LaVista South in the final despite Destiny Ndam-Simpson and Samantha Laird teaming up for 45 kills. The Warriors say goodbye to the senior teammates who combined for over 950 kills this fall. At some point Skutt Catholic’s reign in Class B will end but it’ll last at least another year after fending off Elkhorn North in five sets, 25-20, 23-25, 14-25, 25-16, 15-11, in the championship match for the program’s eighth consecutive state title. Skutt (32-10) and Elkhorn North (32-5) did not play during the regular season. Seniors Morgan Burke and Ivy Leuck were difference makers in the final as they teamed up for 32 kills. It helped offset 28 from senior Grace Heaney for Elkhorn North. Skutt had one of the more impressive schedules around the nation. In addition to the tough home state action, the Skyhawks traveled to the Nike Southeast TOC in Tampa Bay. There, they picked up a victory over eventual Georgia 7A state champ Buford. Skutt also owns a victory over Missouri Class 4 state champ Lafayette, as well as Wisconsin Division 1 state champ Division Savior Holy Angels. Skutt lost twice to Kansas 5A state champ Aquinas and another time to Mother McAuley, which is still alive in the Illinois state playoffs. Class C1: Grand Island Central Catholic d Gothenburg 25-12, 23-25, 25-17, 25-17 Class C2: Lincoln Lutheran d Archbishop Bergan 25-18, 25-22, 25-15 Class D1: Cedar Catholic d Norfolk Catholic 26-24, 20-25, 25-17, 18-25, 15-8 Class D2: Howells-Dodge d Overton 25-16, 24-26, 22-25, 25-23, 15-12 *** NORTH CAROLINA Millbrook (29-1) did not get an opportunity to avenge its only loss of the season, but nevertheless the Wildcats rolled to the 4A state championship with a straight-set victory over Sun Valley, 25-21, 25-14, 25-12. Middle Creek spoiled Millbrook’s shot at an undefeated season with its victory against the Wildcats on Sept. 19. Millbrook and Middle Creek could’ve met in the state semifinals but Cardinal Gibbons took out Middle Creek in five sets to prevent that from happening. Instead, Millbrook went five with Cardinal Gibbons before reaching the final. Opponents aren’t going to like the fact that the Wildcats return their top five kill leaders to take another shot at it next fall. They are junior Kiarrah Horne, sophomore BreAnna McMillan, sophomore Harper Nelson, junior Avery Grantham and sophomore Micah McKenzie. McMillan also shared setting duties with senior Hannah Morrow. Sun Valley (29-3) had only sustained losses to Marvin Ridge and Chapel Hill during the regular season. Chapel Hill was the top seed for the state playoffs but was upset by Cardinal Gibbons in Round 3. Sun Valley relied heavily on senior attackers Aaliyah Mitchell and Hailey Pearce, as well as senior setter Amaya Hall. Junior middle Kyra Joy Arnold and freshman right side Riley Parker do return though for

This edition of our State Spotlights features Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Georgia and Kentucky. Below we run through highlighting the respective champs from each state. ARKANSAS Catching up from the state playoffs from two weekends ago, Fayetteville (36-2) had already made a huge splash this fall by finishing third at the Durango Fall Classic in September, picking up victories over schools like Torrey Pines CA, Redondo Union CA and Hawaii Division 1 state champion ‘Iolani. The Bulldogs’ run ended in the semifinals to Marymount CA, which like Torrey Pines is still alive in the CA Open Division state playoffs entering Tuesday. The only team outside of Marymount to get the better of Fayetteville this season was Liberty North MO, which reached the semifinals of the 4A Missouri state playoffs before falling to eventual champ Lafayette MO. Fayetteville’s performance in Las Vegas was bolstered by its recent Arkansas 6A state championship, which it brought home after topping Southside, 25-19, 25-21, 25-18, two weekends in the final. Currently, Fayetteville is No. 23 in our national rankings. We’ll have to wait a couple more weeks to see where they settle but it’ll be in that range. The Bulldogs feature Under Armour All-American and Florida State recruit Kennedy Phelan. The 5-star setter averaged 9.5 assists per set and led the way with 80 aces. She was helped out big-time by Stanford beach recruit and senior outside Brooke Rockwell. Rockwell finished with 512 kills, averaging 5.2 per set and hitting .314 on the season. Southside (31-8) upset Conway (31-4) in the semifinals. Southside figures to be strong against next fall as it returns its top three kill leaders from this season in sophomore middle Lydia Pitts, junior middle Sophia Neighouse and sophomore outside Gabriela Dupree returning. Benton (34-1) ended a nearly perfect season by sweeping Valley View (29-5) in the 5A championship. Benton’s only setback came in its final outing of the regular season when it fell to eventual 6A semifinalist Conway in four sets. Benton defeated Conway early in the season, as well as picking up a victory over 6A runner up Southside. Senior outside Abigail Lagemann was instrumental to the success this season. She led the team in both kills (324) and digs (266) while hitting .332. She was also third in blocks. Micah McMillan, a senior setter and hitter, was a key piece of the puzzle for the Blazers. She ended with 352 kills and 322 assists. Class 4A: Brookland d Shiloh Christian 25-20, 25-19, 25-16 Class 3A: Baptist Prep d Hackett 25-16, 25-22, 25-22 Class 2A: Mansfield d Lavaca 25-16, 25-15, 25-16 *** GEORGIA In the biggest class, 7A, it was Buford (38-5) earning a nail-biting thriller over Lambert (36-8) in five, 22-25, 25-18, 25-15, 23-25, 19-17, on Saturday! The schools met way back in August in tournament play, with Buford sweeping that one. The latest Wolves’ victory made it three 7A titles in a row and it took fighting off two match points in Game 5 to make it happen. If Buford is to run it back for a fourth time next fall the Wolves will do so without their top two kill leaders from this year in Ashley Sturzoiu and Sydney Austin, plus setter Polly Cummings. Coming back though is freshman outside Clara Briley, who was third in kills, and junior middle Payton Danley. Earlier this season Buford traveled to the Nike TOC Southeast event in Tampa Bay, arriving in our Top 50 Rankings. However, losses to Venice FL, Lake Brantley FL and Skutt Catholic NE bumped the Wolves from the Top 50. Buford had been the only school to defeat North Gwinnett during the regular season. North Gwinnett had worked its way into the Top 50 but fell out when it went down to Buford again in the state semifinals. Lambert reached the showdown with Buford on a 19-match winning streak, including downing Walton in the semifinals. The Longhorns’ last lost before the state final came against Jasper on Sept. 3. Lambert goes into the offseason knowing three key pieces return. One is kill leader and junior Molly Kate Patten. The 6-6, 4-star Georgia commit finished with 314 kills and hit .453 on the year to go with 82 blocks. Also back is sophomore libero Francesca Popescu and freshman S/RS Kalyssa Taggart. Popescu averaged 4.6 digs per set. Taggart was solid all-around, recording 245 digs, hitting .322 with 497 assists and averaging 1.6 digs per set. The 6A final also went the distance as Pope (45-5) flipped the script and rallied past Sequoyah, 21-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-16, 15-12. Both were 6A powerhouses this fall, with a prior meeting going to Pope in four sets back in late August. Sophie-Kate Harvey was clutch for Pope in the rematch. The 6-1 junior outside hurt Sequoyah with 25 kills and helped offset a combined 35 winners from seniors Sara Siefert and Sydney Huyck for Sequoyah. Pope is likely to be the team to beat once more in 6A next fall. The Greyhounds return Harvey plus sophomore middle Ellis Crawford, junior setter Cooper Abney and junior libero Dayla Ortiz. The 4A championship match ended with Pace Academy (42-1) sweeping Lovett, 25-11, 25-23, 25-20, for its sixth consecutive state title. Juniors Grace Agolli and Ellie Siskin teamed up for 32 kills to lead the Knights to victory. Freshman Olivia Siskin had 21 assists while Agolli added 14. Freshman Gabby Emch had a match-high 16 digs. Junior Emma Duffield led Lovett with 15 kills. Pope, the 7A champion, was the only school to defeat Pace this fall. Class 5A: Greater Atlanta Christian d Chattahoochee 21-25, 26-24, 26-24, 25-19 Class 3A: Morgan County d Oconee County 25-23, 19-25, 20-25, 25-16, 15-12 Class 2A: Mount Paran Christian d Landmark Christian 25-13, 25-18, 25-19 Class 1A: Tallulah Falls d Mt. Bethel Christian 25-20, 25-27, 25-14, 25-20 *** INDIANA The Class 4A state playoffs in Indiana was one of the better races to follow along this postseason. At one point this season the state was in serious play