Midseason Report: Impact Freshmen

Wahoo's Mya Larson goes up for a block during a match earlier this week against Waverly. (Photo by Berk Brown) Every fall there are freshmen who burst onto the high school scene and make an immediate impact. This year, there seems to be an especially good - and impactful - group of freshmen. Here is a look at 15 freshmen - listed alphabetically - that have made the biggest impact for their teams so far in 2018. Bekka Allick, 6'2, MH, Lincoln North Star After a 2-18 start, Lincoln North Star has won its past three matches and, not surprisingly, Allick has had big matches in each of those wins. The Husker recruit has the most kills on the team with 162 - which is more than twice the next highest total for the Gators - and leads in blocks with 47. Perhaps more impressively, Allick is second on the team in both digs and serve receptions. Ellie Baumert, 6'0, setter, Malcolm Baumert's arrival at Malcolm has helped the Clippers make up for the loss of last year's Gatorade Player of the Year - Jaela Zimmerman. Baumert has 443 assists (8.5 per set) on the year for the 17-4 Clippers and also is second on the team in blocks, ace serves and digs and is fourth in kills. Makayla Fleming, 5'8, setter, Millard South Fleming began the year running a 5-1 for Millard South but with the return of all-state setter Jaisee Stinson for an injury, Fleming is now part of the Patriot's 6-2 offense. For the year, she has 625 assists (9.2 per set) and in a win over Bellevue West earlier this year for the 14-13 Patriots she had 59 assists. Taniya Golden, 6'0, OH, Omaha Northwest Golden is perhaps the biggest surprise among all freshmen this year. She has totaled 205 kills on the year while helping the Huskies to a 12-8 start this season. While Omaha Northwest might not playing the most difficult schedule in the state, Golden has proven she's no fluke against quality teams, including a seven kill performance on .250 hitting against Omaha Marian, while adding a block, an ace and two digs. Cordelia Harbison, 5'9, OH, Lexington Lexington went 3-25 a year ago and has already tripled that win total with a 9-15 start thanks, in large part, to Harbison. She has 226 kills and 34 ace serves - both lead the Minutemen. She wasted no time making an impact, going off for 22 kills, 12 digs and 10 ace serves in Lexington's season-opener against Holdrege. Kali Jurgensmeier, 6'1, MH, Bishop Neumann While Kelsie Cada might get all the attention of opposing teams, Jurgensmeier has been thriving as her partner in crime for the 16-1 Cavaliers this season. The athletic and powerful middle hitter is second on the team with 126 kills while hitting at a .430 clip. She also has 32 blocks and 180 digs. In a three-set win over Hastings St. Cecilia earlier this week she had 15 kills, three blocks, 18 digs and 11 serve receptions. Kealy Kiviniemi, 6'0, MH, Bellevue West Bellevue West, ranked #10 in Class A, has a really balanced attack and Kiviniemi is tied for the team lead with 144 kills and is hitting .217 on the season with 55 blocks - which is best on the Thunderbirds team. In a loss to Millard South earlier this year the freshman middle had 15 kills and six blocks. Mya Larson, 5'10, OH, Wahoo I'm not really sure it's fair to win a state title and then the following year have a freshman playing the way Larson is this year, but that's exactly the case for 20-2 Wahoo. Just how good has Larson been this season? Well, she leads the team with 213 kills on .326 hitting, is second in aces with 34 and leads the team in both digs (215) and serve receptions (238). Ava LeGrand, 5'11, OH, Papillion-LaVista South When you talk about the most complete freshmen in the state, it's really a two-player debate right now between Larson and LeGrand. At one of the biggest traditional powerhouse programs in the state, LeGrand has stepped right in and leads the Titans with 198 kills while also having 16 aces, 19 blocks and 159 digs. Maddie MacTaggert, 5'9, OH, Millard South MacTaggert has given Millard South its most powerful and explosive outside hitter since Madi Stearns and has added a much-needed element to the Patriots' attack. MacTaggert has 166 kills on the year to go with 17 aces. She had a season-high 20 kills against Bellevue West earlier this year. Shayla Meyer, 6'0, OH, Superior If Husker recruit Kalynn isn't careful, people are going to start calling her Shayla's sister the way her younger sibling is playing. Earlier this week, Shayla had 17 kills and 27 digs in a win over Minden. For the year, Shayla has 153 kills on .303 hitting with 172 digs, 43 ace serves and 34 blocks. Samantha Riggs, 5'5, libero, Papillion-LaVista If you play varsity as a freshman at Papillion-LaVista, you've got a bright future and that seems to be the case with Riggs. The freshman libero has 380 digs on the year (5.9 per set), to go along with 28 aces, 51 assists and 405 serve receptions. She had a career-high 36 digs against Elkhorn South earlier this year. Kylie Weeks, 5'7, OH, Elkhorn South It's really hard to be a successful outside hitter in the Metro Conference. It's even harder to do it as a freshman and extremely difficult if you're just 5'7. Yet, Weeks makes it look easy with her explosive vertical and power arm. For the season, she has 183 kills for the Storm to go with 24 ace serves and 221 digs. Jasa Wiedel, 5'10, setter, Thayer Central Thayer Central went from 18-16 a year ago to a 19-2 start this season and having Wiedel as the quarterback has been a big reason for the improvement. Wiedel has 509 assists on the season (8.6 per set) to go with 10 aces, 181 digs and 61 kills. She had a triple-double against Centennial earlier this year with 10 kills, 12 digs and 37 assists. Madi Woodin, 5'5, setter, Elkhorn South Woodin grabbed the starting setter position in the summer for Elkhorn South and has been rolling with it ever since. She is among the state leaders in assists with 803 on the season (10.9 per set) and has also added 171 digs, 16 ace serves and seven kills.