Aurora Seniors making a push in the 2021 Rankings

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When perusing through the 2021 rankings, a few team names kept popping up. One, in particular, had three players already on the list and two were added after their senior season. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This group of five seniors at Aurora started playing volleyball and basketball together in 5th grade. That camaraderie paid off during quarantine. In March of 2020, coach Lois Hixson encouraged them to stay focused on the goal of putting "jerseys on in August." As summer league and camps were canceled one by one, the team was not allowed to compete outside of their own gym. With this senior leadership, the entire team stayed focused by virtually leading small groups of players in conditioning workouts.  </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Aurora seniors in the 2021 Rankings:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">38 </span><b>[player_tooltip player_id="78625" first="Kassidy" last="Hudson"] </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">| 5’9 | Aurora | College of St. Mary<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">3.3 kills/set on .228 hitting. Future Plans: Elementary Education.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">39 </span><b>Cassidy Knust </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">| 5’3 | L | Aurora |Concordia<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Knust broke the career digs record at Aurora this season as a co-captain of the team. Future Plans: Elementary Education</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">125 </span><b>[player_tooltip player_id="78626" first="Raina" last="Cattau"] </b><span style="font-weight: 400;">| 5’6 | S | Aurora <br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Future Plans: Middle School Education</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">127 </span><b>[player_tooltip player_id="82696" first="Emily" last="Erickson"]</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> | 5’3 | DS | Aurora<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Future Plans: Dental Hygienist.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">128 </span><b>Jaylee Schuster</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> | 5’9 | OH | Aurora<br /> </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">As a Co-Captain Schuster tied the ace serves in a match record with 9. The six-rotation player spent time in the middle and outside. </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Future Plans: Special Education Teacher</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Aurora started the season with two losses in a triangular against eventual Class C1 state champion Wahoo and Class B runner-up Norris. Aurora pushed Wahoo in the first match to three close sets and gave Norris a good run in the evening’s finale. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After a 3-5 record with additional close losses to Beatrice and Waverly, the next challenge was to get the “Next Nine.” They came close with an 8-1 run which included a runner-up finish at the Gothenburg Tournament.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Then a slight letdown led to a 3-4 stretch with losses to Kearney Catholic, Waverly, Lexington, and North Platte. This group of seniors stepped up and lit a fire under the team to accomplish the next goal of becoming Central Conference champions. And that they did with a 5-0 record in a three-day stretch to capture the championship with wins over Crete, Lakeview, Crete, Lexington, and York.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As fifth graders, this group had a goal of playing in the state tournament. And this year they did just that - the Class B State Tournament and a 22-13 record! Per Coach Hixson, “This group of seniors, with the support of their parents, made this a very memorable season and made a special mark on the legacy of Aurora VB.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p>