State Spotlights: Seven More Wrap Up Seasons
The latest edition of our State Spotlights features Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada and Ohio. Below we run through highlighting the respective champs from each of the seven states. ARIZONA Despite losing standout USC commit Jordan Middleton to graduation, Hamilton found its way back in the Arizona 6A state final and looking to spoil the time of top seed Corona del Sol. However, there’s a new champion in the conference as CdS fought past Hamilton in five sets, 19-25, 25-15, 22-25, 25-16, 15-6, on Saturday. Seniors Kierstyn Barton and Neomi Beach traded blows for their respective teams, as Barton posted 25 kills for CdS and Beach a match-high 26 for Hamilton. Sophomore Alyssa Aguayo and senior Ella Lomigora combined for 25 more kills for CdS (39-5), which defeated Hamilton at the Nike TOC Southwest tournament in their only prior meeting. Freshman libero Erin Clark made 35 saves and junior setter Julia Owens dished out 57 assists in the final for CdS, which is ranked No. 27 nationally in this week’s Top 50. As for Hamilton, freshman Mikayla Haner recorded 14 kills, senior setter Melia Barlow had 44 assists and senior libero Lauren Mullings tallied 30 digs. In 5A, Horizon and Millennium were 2-2 against each other before meeting for the state title to break the tie. Bragging rights go to Horizon, which pulled out the four-set victory, 23-23, 22-25, 28-26, 25-18. All three of Horizon’s victories over Millennium came with sophomore sensation Teraya Sigler in the lineup. Sigler – who sat out of the first half of the season after transferring – sent down 26 kills in the state final. Senior outside Kendal Murphy added 13 and senior middle GG Greenlee 10. Murphy also had 15 digs. Junior Ryder Blackburn and sophomore Avery Ashcraft teamed for 48 assists. Millennium beat 6A runner-up Hamilton this season and returns plenty to take another shot at the 5A title next fall. While senior outside Eryn Jones graduates, juniors Anne Brauckmiller, Talea Mitchell and Allison Wilson return, as does sophomore Gabbi Kucinski. 4A: Estrella Foothills d Arcadia 25-20, 25-18, 22-25, 25-22 3A: Snowflake d Northwest Christian 25-18, 25-23, 31-29 2A: Phoenix Country Day d St. Johns 17-25, 25-17, 25-17, 25-18 1A: Rock Point d Williams 25-16, 24-26, 22-25, 25-15, 15-11 *** COLORADO There was no denying Valor Christian, which completed an undefeated season by downing Rock Canyon in straight sets, 25-12, 25-19, 25-23, in the Colorado Class 5A state championship match Saturday. Valor Christian (29-0) dropped just four sets all season, including one against Rampart in the Eagles’ state semifinal victory. Valor Christian – which captured state last in 2018 – earned its most recent banner behind 32 combined kills in the final from seniors Erin McNair, Sasha Cohen and Skyla Morgan and junior Grace Langer. Junior libero Delaney Russell recorded 17 digs while sophomore setter Chloe Elarton finished with 29 assists. The Eagles are currently No. 23 in our latest Top 50 National Rankings. The biggest threat to Valor Christian’s perfect mark came against Fossil Ridge on Sept. 8. The Eagles needed five sets to prevail, the only time they went the distance. Valor Christian swept Fossil Ridge in the second round of the 5A state winner’s bracket. The only other opponent to garner a set from Valor Christian was Palmer Ridge. Rock Canyon (24-5) was boosted this season by the play of sophomore outside Alivia Eikenberg. She led the team in kills and was second in digs. She’ll be back next along with junior libero Ava Blanco and junior setter Addie Waller. Class 4A: Thompson Valley d Windsor 25-23, 25-20, 25-21 Class 3A: Platte Valley d Lamar 28-30, 25-20, 25-21, 19-25, 16-14 Class 2A: Sedgwick County d Fowler 25-23, 24-26, 25-17, 25-21 Class 1A: Merino d Fleming 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 *** FLORIDA Venice (22-4) was too much for Hagerty in the Florida Class 7A state championship match on Saturday. Venice prevailed in four games, 21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-16, and earned its sixth state title overall. Venice was denied in last year’s semifinals by Plant, which was up 2-1 in this season’s state quarterfinals over Venice before Venice rallied to win in five. Senior setter Ashley Reynolds amassed 44 assists and sophomore outside Summer Kohler posted 19 kills in the state final victory. Hilary Hupp and Leah Bartlett combined for 23 more kills. Hagerty was led by senior outside Brooke Stephens, who had a match-high 20 kills. Junior Abby Mas and freshman Jenness Orcutt teamed for 23 kills behind Stephens. It was a challenging season for Venice off the court, as the Indians had to cancel six matches due to Hurricane Ian. The team didn’t play from Sept. 22 until Oct. 11, when Venice suffered a three-game loss to Cardinal Mooney. The Indians didn’t lose again, winning their final 10 matches. The 6A state final went down to the wire, with New Smyrna Beach (25-2) avoiding a surprising loss by fending off Viera in five sets, 23-25, 25-15, 25-18, 19-25, 16-14. New Smyrna Beach was 2-0 against Viera previously this season and had only lost to Plant and Westminster Christian, which we’ll have more on from the 3A state final. Senior Madelyn Peterson had a huge outing, dropping 25 kills and hitting .449 to lead the Barracudas. Senior outsides Jalynn Brown (17 kills) and Eden Anderson (12) also reached double-digit kills. Junior senior Alyssa Kornegay racked up 58 assists and junior libero Ivy Westfall made 29 digs. Senior Mak Carter and junior Sophia Jones combined for 26 kills for Viera. Santa Fe (30-2) defeated Academy of Holy Names in four, 25-13, 21-25, 25-12, 25-14, to finish on top of the 4A state playoff brackets. Senior S/RS Jalyn Stout went off for Santa Fe, producing 29 kills (.551), 17 digs and 13 assists in the victory. Senior libero Miya Thomas put up 23 digs. Eighth-grader Sophia Puleo was the only player in double-digit kills for Holy Names with 10. As we touched on in our Top 50 HS National Rankings intro, there