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
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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
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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 in regards to vballrecruiter.com’s national championship conversation. Both Hamilton Southeastern (34-1) and McCutcheon (33-2) were building solid cases as they climbed the rankings. However, once Cornerstone Christian TX finished its remarkable season there was no way for either school to jump the Texas school and that basically ended the national championship talk for either Indiana program.
Still, none of that detracted from the state race, which was capped off by HSE downing Yorktown, 25-17, 13-25, 25-23, 25-18, in Saturday’s 4A championship match. The 4A title chase began with Yorktown (34-3) avenging one of its prior loss by knocking out Brebeuf Jesuit from contention. The second round saw a rematch between HSE and McCutcheon, who is the only school to defeat HSE on the year. HSE avenged its previous loss and joined Yorktown as the only schools to beat McCutcheon. Yorktown was looking to avenge another loss when it met HSE in the final but fell to the Royals for the second time.
As of Monday, HSE was ranked No. 4 nationally, followed by No. 12 Yorktown and No. 14 McCutcheon. Could we see another meeting in next year’s 4A final between HSE and Yorktown? Both schools return key pieces, while McCutcheon loses all-world star and senior outside Chloe Chicoine – a 5-star Purdue commit – but does return junior setter Allie Shondell, also a 5-star Purdue commit.
HSE says goodbye to kill leader and senior outside Avery Hobson, who torched opponents for 429 kills while hitting .361. But the Royals bring back just about everyone else. Florida 5-star recruit and junior outside Lauren Harden is back, as is sophomore outside Lindsey Mangelson and setters Macy Hinshaw and Ava Hunter plus junior libero Sophie Ledbetter.
Yorktown has a little more work to do as it will lose senior S/RS Emilee Hill as well as middles Gretchen Moore and Camryn Isaacs. Yet, this season’s kill leader in sophomore outside Charlotte Vinson and sophomore libero Addison Applegate return to build around, along with sophomore middle Shanese Williams.
Class 3A: Providence d Bellmont 25-15, 25-16, 22-25, 25-16
Class 2A: Wapahani d Linton-Stockton 25-18, 22-25, 25-15, 25-8
Class 1A: Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian d Tecumseh 21-25, 25-13, 12-25, 25-20, 15-5
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IOWA
Iowa City Liberty (32-8) upended defending champion Pleasant Valley (29-6) in four sets, 20-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-22, in the Class 5A state championship match last Thursday. The two schools went 1-1 during the regular season. The Lightning were led offensively by the senior trio of Cassidy Hartman, Shelby Kimm and Lilah Vanscoyoc, as well as sophomore setter Asta Hildebrand. Hartman put down a team-high 24 kills in the state final victory, followed by Kimm with 17 and Vanscoyoc with 14.
Like Liberty, Pleasant Valley will take on a new identity next season as the Spartans lose their top four kill leaders in Halle Vice, Chloe Cline, Emily Goodpaster and Izzy Van De Wiele, as well as setter Siena Roethler.
Liberty went 2-1 this season against eventual Class 4A champion Xavier (33-4). The Saints beat Clear Creek-Amana, 25-16, 22-25, 25-23, 25-12, in the 4A title match. Senior Maci Kadlec and sophomore Libby Fandel combined for 43 kills in the final.
In the Class 2A state final, Western Christian (42-5) upset then-No. 26 Dike-New Hartford (44-3) in five sets, 25-21, 19-25, 25-21, 13-25, 16-14. Dike-New Hartford hadn’t loss since September when Mt. Vernon pulled off the surprise. Dowling Catholic had been the only other team to top Dike-New Hartford as the Wolverines spent nearly the entire season in the Top 50 before Thursday’s upset at the hands of the Wolfpack. Dike-New Hartford was 2-0 against both 5A finalists in Liberty and Pleasant Valley. As for Western Christian, Abby VerBurg (26 kills) and Stella Winterfield (24) had monster performances in the 2A final as the duo combined for 50 kills. Winterfield also delivered a match-high 15 digs.
Class 3A: Davenport Assumption d Sioux Center 25-23, 25-16, 25-21
Class 1A: Ankeny Christian d Gladbrook-Reinbeck 21-25, 19-25, 28-26, 26-24, 15-10
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KENTUCKY
Notre Dame Academy’s strong run to end the season culminated with the Pandas capturing the Kentucky state title after sweeping Paul Laurence Dunbar, 25-22, 25-11, 25-16. Sydney Nolan recorded 18 kills and hit .516 NDA (35-5). The Pandas reached the final after knocking off Assumption, 25-15, 22-25, 21-25, 25-22, 15-7, in the semifinals. It was the third victory over Assumption for the Pandas. The first one corresponded with NDA’s rise to the finish line. The Pandas started gaining steam by picking up big victories over Marist IL (twice) and Assumption and the Asics Challenge in Chicago at the beginning of August. NDA defeated Assumption once more two weeks later in non-district play before eventually hoisting the state trophy and boosting NDA to No. 34 in this week’s national rankings.
