Class 2B: The Early All-State Team

High school volleyball won’t start in Washington until March, but we’re all so much ready for it! We can’t help but think about which teams will play the best volleyball and which players will set themselves apart from the competition when the balls are finally allowed to start flying. It’s way too early, I know, but here are my best guesses about who will make it to the All-State Team in the class 2B next season.   Madi Zorn – Setter – Junior – Northwest Christian An All-State first-team member in 2019, when she helped Northwest Christian to advance all the way to the State Championship final, Madi Zorn should return even stronger for her junior campaign with the Crusaders. The 5’8” setter has a great all-around game and is able to help her team in a variety of ways, as it was evident last season, when she registered 680 assists, 140 digs, 107 aces and 80 kills.   Ellie Marble – Outside Hitter – Sophomore - LaConner Awarded as a Co-Player of the Year in her freshman year with LaConner, a season in which she led the Braves to the State Championship title, Ellie Marble is nowhere near scratching the surface of her immense potential yet. The six-footer is nearly unstoppable at the net, as it was made clear by her 397 kills, but she’s also outstanding in basically every other aspect of the game and added 410 digs, 58 aces and 21 blocks to the state champions last year as well.   [player_tooltip player_id="97006" first="Nikarra" last="Smith"] – Outside Hitter/Middle-Blocker – Senior – Toutle Lake [player_tooltip player_id="97006" first="Nikarra" last="Smith"] was the only player from Toutle Lake, a sixth-place finisher at last year’s State Championship, to earn an All-State team nomination. That gives the exact amount of her importance to the Lady Ducks as her strong and diverse offense game carried the team much further than many could have anticipated. At 6’1”, Smith is one of the tallest hitters in the division, but she can also play with speed at the net, providing a lethal combination for opponents to deal with. She ranks 27th at prepdig.com’s Class of 2021 list.   Sahara Browing – Outside Hitter – Junior – Walla Walla Valley Academy Sahara Browing is one of the best well-versed offensive players in the entire division. At 5’8”, the Walla Walla Valley Academy standout might not be as tall as many of the top outside hitters in the class, but she’s extremely efficient at the net as she showed in 2019, when she converted 348 or her 639 attacking attempts, registering an exceptional kill percentage of 54.5 percent. Browing is also a good defender (232 digs) and server (94 aces) and the sum of all those skills earned her an All-State team honorable mention in 2019, when she took the Knights to a State Championship appearance.   Kierstyn York – Middle-Blocker – Senior – Colfax An All-State second-team selection in 2019, Kierstyn York is one of the main reasons why Colfax finished seventh at last year’s State Championship. The six-foot middle-blocker was a reliable scorer for the Bulldogs, repeatedly registering north of 15 kills per match, and also provided her team a big help on defense due to her massive and effective presence at the net.   Hailey Brooks – Middle-Blocker/Right Sider – Sophomore – Mossryrock Hailey Brooks had a promising freshman campaign for Mossyrock, one that ended with the Vikings earning a top-three finish at last year’s State Championship. Splitting time between middle-blocker and right sider duties, the 5’8” gave indications of the special player she can become with an efficient game at the net (74 kills), a strong serving showing (55 aces) and a good reading of the game at the net (35 blocks), which was highlighted by a 14-point block party against Kalama.   Rachel Cram – Libero – Junior – LaConner Rachel Cram was a stud for state champions LaConner in 2019 and she was rewarded with an All-State second-team selection for it. The 5’5” defender is electric at the backcourt and played a pivotal role in the Braves’ defensive game with 393 digs (4.6 per set) and 279 passes, which allowed her to flourish offensively.