High School Team of the Week – 15-6A Klein Bearkats

Over the next few months I will be rolling out some articles that will recognize teams who have been playing exceptionally well this volleyball season. I will still be doing our regular highlight articles on multiple athletes for exposure, however I wanted to do some special articles on a few teams that we are getting to know quite well with Prep Dig TX. This week we will give special recognition to the Klein Bearkats Volleyball Team as they are our High School Team of the Week.   We have covered this program earlier in the spring. In that article we mentioned, “They have only missed the playoffs four times in the last thirty years. They have also made it to the area round of the state playoffs sixteen times during those thirty years. The Bearkats are coming off of a 2019 campaign that saw them make it to the Regional Finals. They are looking to go back this coming year and have a great chance to do so. “ Coach Zora let me in on her expectations in the spring and I would say that right now, they are living up to them right now.   They are currently 12-0 and just came off of a huge win against another big program The Woodlands this past week in three straight sets in convincing fashion. The Klein Bearkats are currently ranked as the 5thbest team in the Nation according to the USA Today AP Poll. I have a feeling they will be moving up that list along with others. The Texas Girls Coaches Association ranked Klein as the 2nd best in the state, but after beating the Woodlands (who were ranked as the #1 team) they will likely claim the number one position. The most interesting note of all of this is that they have one dropped ONE set all year long. Yes we said only dropped one set and that was to Ridge Point who is another great Houston area team. There is no doubt that they are ready to make a huge run this season. They are still hungry from last year’s awesome run and have some serious talent that could beat any team in the country.   Here are a few of the players that are helping Klein continue their dominance on the volleyball court and what we recently wrote about them with a few updates: [player_tooltip player_id="87438" first="Annie" last="Antar"] [2021] 5-11 Setter/Right Side (HS: Klein/Club: Houston Juniors/Verbal: North Florida) Miss Antar is currently ranked as the 50th top prospect in the 2021 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. Annie has had a very great school campaign over her past three years. This past year her Klein Bearkats were led by [player_tooltip player_id="87438" first="Annie" last="Antar"]’s 491 kills and 620 assists going into the playoffs. She earned the honor of Offensive player of the district last season. She is looking to do even more damage in her senior season. She is a valuable asset with her size and will do great things for the North Florida program in a few years as she is able to play all the way around and is a viable threat to score when attacking. She is a solid six-rotation player and has a cannon for an arm on the front row.   [player_tooltip player_id="87426" first="Devan" last="Taylor"] [2021] 5-8 Defensive Specialist/Outside (HS: Klein/Club: Houston Juniors/Verbal: Clemson) Devan is currently ranked as the 37th top prospect in the 2021 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. Devan earned defensive player of the district this past season. She plays at Houston Juniors where she plays both Libero and outside from time to time for her team. She has been solid on the back row for Klein and has been a four-year starter. She always keeps her eyes on the prize, has great court vision, and amazing balance in her footwork. My favorite thing about her play has to be her extensive range defensively. There isn’t a ball she can’t get to in my opinion. This is why we have her ranked as the 37thbest prospect in the class of 2021 according to our Prep Dig Rankings. She has a verbal commitment to division one volleyball program Clemson. She just recently set a career milestone of surpassing 2,000 digs and the season is barely under way.   Camy Kling [2021] 5-10 Setter (HS: Klein/Club: Willowbrook/Verbal: North Alabama) Camy is currently unranked in the 2021 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings, but that will change once I update the rankings early next month. Camy earned 2nd team All-District honors last season. According to her coach she is a solid setter with great court composure to lead her team. She plays at a great long time program in the Houston area, Willowbrook. She is a great asset to her team as a setter but more importantly on the defensive end. She digs extremely well in right back. There aren’t a lot of balls that fall near her defensive zone. She picks up everything. She just committed to the university of North Alabama and will definitely be an asset to their program the moment she steps on their campus next year.   [player_tooltip player_id="99551" first="Abigail" last="Sweeney"] [2021] 6-2 Middle/Right Side (HS: Klein/Club: Renegades/Verbal: Uncommitted) Miss Sweeney is currently ranked as the 91st top prospect in the 2021 class according to our state rankings. She is a dominant force in the middle for her small club out of Houston – Renegades Volleyball club. She has the frame that is desired by a lot of college coaches and she definitely has the power. This young lady explodes on the ball with authority. She is able to hit all tempos and locations on the net as her club runs her in the three position in transition, they of course run her in the five position at a one tempo, and she even runs a four tempo in the nine position out of serve receive. College coaches need to take a look at her asap if they are looking to fill their needs of a big arm out of the middle or right. Abby has been a strong 4 year Varsity player for Klein and is a blocking machine on the right side for them. She is one reason why their defense is so good against their opponents due to her having to slow down or stop the other teams best attackers on the left. Her super high efficient hitting percentage this season is also another big reason why Klein has been unstoppable so far in this early part of the season.   [player_tooltip player_id="87476" first="Kierstyn" last="McFall"] [2022] 6-4 MB (HS: Klein/Club: Houston Skyline/Verbal: Uncommitted) Keirstyn is currently ranked as the 11th top prospect in the 2022 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. Kierstyn earned 1st Team All District last season as well. She is a dominant force at the net and is able to attack from all positions. Being six foot four definitely has its advantages and tons of college coaches have noticed her skills. She plays on one of the best club teams in the nation at her Houston Skyline club. She shows off great quick footwork during her play in the middle. She stays on the balls of her feet when running her attacks and drives her feet hard into the ground to aggressively approach her setter. Being that tall, she is able to aggressively contact the ball on top of it and drive it into the ten foot line often. Kierstyn has been recently named to the AVCA Phenom list for this year.   [player_tooltip player_id="99519" first="Gabriela" last="Mansfield"] [2022] 5-5 Defensive Specialist (HS: Klein/Club: Houston Skyline/Verbal: Rice University) Gaby is currently ranked as the 77th top prospect in the 2022 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. Gaby will definitely be moving up our rankings once I update them early next month. Gaby earned 1st Team All-District honors last season as well. According to her coach, she set last year’s single season dig record at Klein. She is a teammate of Miss McFall at Houston Skyline. She has also earned accolades from some other volleyball publications as well. I am impressed with the way she plays in the back row. She constantly has her feet moving and is very active. When the ball is contacted, I love how she has great body control to absorb contact from the attack. She is very active on hitter coverage as well and should be commended for that. Gaby recently committed to division one Rice University. She will do great things for Coach Volpe in a few years.   [player_tooltip player_id="87538" first="Mikala" last="Sampson"] [2023] 6-0 Middle (HS: Klein/Club: Willowbrook/Verbal: Uncommitted) Mikala is currently ranked as the 11th top prospect in the 2023 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings. The newcomer to the program this past season was Freshman [player_tooltip player_id="87538" first="Mikala" last="Sampson"]. She earned 1st Team All-District also with her play. Prep Dig has her ranked as the 11thbest prospect in the 2023 class. She is a very explosive blocker and attacker with an outstanding ability to read on the block according to her coach. When I watch her play I see rapid footwork that will have her hitting at a high clip with quick sets for the rest of her career. She is very quick to the ball and extremely quick off of the ground. Once you add her lightning quick arm swing, you have a recipe for fireworks. She is young and talented. Her club director at Willowbrook Gabi Carbone and her high school coach Zora will definitely have her college ready in a few years. Keep your eye out for this one folks.   Ariana Brown [2023] 5-11 Outside (HS: Klein/Club: Willowbrook/Verbal: Uncommitted) Ariana is currently unranked in the 2023 class according to our Prep Dig State Rankings, but that will change once I update the rankings early next month. Miss Brown earned Newcomer of the District last season as a freshman. She plays with Mikala at Willowbrook. Ariana is a heavy powerful attacker with an arm that brings the heat on the pins according to her coach. I’ve watched her play and she’s right. This kid has an absolute cannon on the left side. Klein will be in great hands if it has these two youngsters coming up in their program.   A program like this mixed with a coach with so much experience means great things on the volleyball court for the foreseeable future for the Bearkats. They have it all. They have great senior leadership with experience, rising juniors who have also been there before and play high level club, and last but not least, they have some amazing young talent with fresh legs to keep the attack coming. I think its safe to say they will be a solid contender for the State crown in 2020.   We will be publishing more articles weekly to give recognition to those teams and athletes who are playing great in their matches. Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone that you think deserves to be recognized as a player of the week, feel free to send me a message with their information. Or if you have anyone that you think have what it takes to be added to our database, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com. As always, thanks for following our publication.