2016 High School Players of the Year in Each Class
Class A Elise Baumann, 5-foot-10, Sr., OH, Millard North College Commitment: Hastings College Kills: 330 Total Blocks: 14 Digs: 352 Ace Serves: 48 Elise Baumann may have never struck fear into the hearts of her opponents nor intimidated anyone with…
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Elise Baumann, 5-foot-10, Sr., OH, Millard North
College Commitment: Hastings College
Kills: 330
Total Blocks: 14
Digs: 352
Ace Serves: 48
Elise Baumann may have never struck fear into the hearts of her opponents nor intimidated anyone with her presence on the court, but she is the reason why Millard North can call itself the Class A state champion. For her performance during the 2016 season, Baumann has been named the Nebraska Prep Volleyball Player of the Year in Class A.
Baumann was a weapon from each rotation on the court for the Mustangs and the steady senior leader the young Mustangs needed as they went through growing pains during the season. What secured the honor for Baumann was how she played when it mattered the most. Only once in her career did Baumann record double-digit kill totals in four consecutive matches – that stretch coming in the final four matches of her high school career (the district final and three state tournament matches). In Millard North’s upset of Papillion-LaVista in the Class A semifinals, Baumann had 13 kills and 21 digs and then followed that up with the match of her life in the state finals. Baumann finished the match with 21 kills (one off her career high) and a career-high 31 digs. She was the only player in the Class A state final with a hitting percentage about .250.
Class B
Alli Schomers, 5-foot-11, Sr., Setter, Skutt Catholic &
Brooke Heyne, 5-foot-9, Sr., OH, Skutt Catholic
Schomers College Commitment: University of Missouri-Kansas City
Assists: 1,353
Kills: 80
Digs: 194
Ace Serves: 47
Heyne College Commitment: Kansas State
Kills: 468
Digs: 342
Ace Serves: 40
Some things simply belong together, like Batman & Robin, Peanut Butter & Jelly and Heyne & Schomers. For that reason and for the performance of both players this high school season, Nebraska Prep Volleyball has named Brooke Heyne and Allison Schomers the Co-Players of the Year in Class B.
Both players led Skutt to a pair of consecutive state championships and were the driving forces this year in a 44-0 season that resulted in the SkyHawks being a consensus top-5 team in the nation. The pair has seemingly fed off each other most of their careers; making each other better and each making the other look good. Heyne hit a mind-boggling .469 this season, committing just 72 hitting errors while racking up 468 kills. She was equally productive in the back row, where she had 342 kills. Schomers led the state in both total assists with 1,353 and assists per set at 12.4. Schomers started 85 matches at setter the past two years for Skutt in a 5-1 offense and the SkyHawks went 84-1 in those matches.
Class C-1
Jaela Zimmerman, 6-foot-2, Jr., OH, Malcolm
College Commitment: Creighton
Kills: 543
Digs: 314
Ace Serves: 45
Total Blocks: 69
There was no single player in the state of Nebraska this fall more vital to her team’s success than Malcolm’s Jaela Zimmerman. Her monster season led the Clippers to their best volleyball season ever and a trip to the Class C-1 state finals and earned her the Nebraska Prep Volleyball Class C-1 Player of the Year honors.
In Malcolm’s first match of the season – a 2-0 sweep of Omaha Brownell Talbot – Zimmerman had 10 kills on 10 swings and she remained on fire the entire year. Zimmerman’s command of the court and her overall court presence was surpassed by no one, and she consistently performed at her highest level in Malcolm’s biggest matches. In a 3-1 win over fellow state-tourney participant North Bend Central in late September, Zimmerman went off for 30 kills and then added 31 more in a 3-2 win over then top-ranked Bishop Neumann three weeks later. In Malcolm’s sub state match, Zimmerman led the Clippers back from a 2-0 deficit against Grand Island Central Catholic with 38 kills in a 3-2 win. Zimmerman then posted 73 kills in Malcolm’s three state tourney matches, including 32 in the semifinal win over four-time defending champions Kearney Catholic.
Class C-2
Madison Jurgens, 5-foot-10, Sr., Setter, Diller-Odell
College Commitment: South Dakota
Kills: 473
Digs: 403
Ace Serves: 108
Assists: 492
Only one player in the state produced more than 400 kills, digs and assists during the 2016 season and that was Madison Jurgens. For her performance, Jurgens has been named the Nebraska Prep Volleyball Class C-2 Player of the Year. Jurgens becomes the first-ever two-time POY winner after being honored as the NPV Class D-1 POY in 2015.
You know a player is truly special when they accomplish something you’re not sure has ever been done before. Jurgens may well be the first player in state history with more than 400 kills, digs and assists in a single season. Jurgens has the incredible athleticism and hands that will make her a very successful setter at the next level, but her attacking ability made her an unstoppable force at the net for the Griffins. Jurgens helped lead Diller-Odell to a second-place finish in Class D-1 in 2015 and then got the Griffins to the Class C-2 finals this year before falling to Stanton. She finishes her high school career with 1,573 assists, 1,478 kills, 1m228 digs and 285 ace serves.
Class D-1
Maddie Knobbe, 6-foot, Sr., MH, Guardian Angels CC
College Commitment: Wayne State
Kills: 444
Digs: 219
Total Blocks: 134
Ace Serves: 27
The sole mission of every team Guardian Angels CC faced this year was to not let Maddie Knobbe control the match, and yet the senior did just that nearly every time. Knobbe virtually carried the Bluejays single handedly to a fourth-place finish in Class D-1 this year and has been named the Nebraska Prep Volleyball Class D-1 Player of the Year.
It simply blows your mind to think a team could have just one player with more than 120 kills on the year and still go 18-12 and make the state semifinals, but that’s just what Guardian Angels did thanks to Knobbe. The Wayne State recruit was absolutely in command of the net in every match she played in this year, finishing with 444 kills on the season, including an average of 24 in the Bluejays’ three state tourney matches. Knobbe also had 134 total blocks on the year – 77 of them solo – while having a team-high 27 service aces and finishing third on the team in digs.
Class D-2
Madison VanHousen, 5-foot-11, Sr., OH, Hampton
College Commitment: Doane University
Kills: 338
Digs: 191
Total Blocks: 72
Ace Serves: 82
If you could only use one word to describe the play of VanHousen this season for Hampton, it would be dominating. For her performance in guiding Hampton to an undefeated season and Class D-2 state title, VanHousen has been named the Nebraska Prep Volleyball Class D-2 Player of the Year.
No player in Nebraska that finished the year with more than 200 kills was able to terminate on as high of a percentage of swing as VanHousen did at 55.8% VanHousen had only 52 hitting errors in more than 600 swings, as she demonstrated the rare combination of pure power with control and accuracy. In rolling through the season with just set losses on the year, the Hawks took on VanHousen’s aggressive and confident persona on its way to one of the most dominating seasons a team can have. VanHousen also had 82 service aces with just 48 errors and also had 72 solo blocks to go with 191 digs.