Early High School Top Performers – The Scorers

<p>The high school volleyball season in on in Texas and over the first ten days of competition we've already been able to see the greatness of some of the most talented young athletes of the Lone Star State.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Some prospects didn't need much time or a lot of matches to show what they can do and have already posted significant numbers in a very early stage of the season.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>We'll run some articles to highlight the players from across the state who started the season on fire and in the first of them, we'll take a look at those who had massive scoring performances.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="87467" first="Maya" last="Duckworth"] – Outside Hitter – HS: Birdville – Club: Madfrog – 2022</strong></p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="87467" first="Maya" last="Duckworth"] quickly reinforced her status as the second-best player in the state in our 2022 Prep Dig State Rankings. The 5'9” leaping freak has already tallied 175 kills in just 30 sets with Birdville, averaging 5.8 per set and producing an impressive kill percentage of almost 47%. She had four 20+ kill performances already, tallying 20 in the season opener against Keller Central, 22 against Tascosa and 21 against both Coronado and Midland Legacy and is one of the reasons the Lady Hawks lost just once so far. Iowa State, where she committed, might be really happy about her early production, which made of her the Mainsfield Invitational Player of the Tournament.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Congratulations to outside hitter, [player_tooltip player_id="87467" first="Maya" last="Duckworth"], for her All Tournament selection! <a href="https://t.co/JynsXAb87B">pic.x.com/JynsXAb87B</a></p> — Birdville Volleyball (@birdvillevball) <a href="https://x.com/birdvillevball/status/1426648024919552001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Paulina Acuna – Outside Hitter – HS: Franklin - 2022</strong></p> <p>Paulina Acuna has the technical skills to play as a defensive specialist, but she's been extremely prolific for Franklin at the start of the season. The explosive 5'8” outside hitter has carried the Lady Cougars offense during the first match of their campaign, producing 155 kills in 28 just, to average 5.5 per set. Acuna, who hits a very quick set at the pin and is lethal when she goes line, has been exceptionally efficient, converting in points more than half of kill attempts. She had a pair of 24-kill matches against Centennial and Dumas.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">A huge Congratulations goes out to Paulina Acuña and Madison Blanco for making the Mansfield Invitational All-Tournament Team. Way to go Cougars!!! 🏐<a href="https://x.com/Fchavezeptimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Fchavezeptimes</a> <a href="https://x.com/EPSports915?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EPSports915</a> <a href="https://x.com/Prep1USA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Prep1USA</a> <a href="https://t.co/4UJmctXuT0">pic.x.com/4UJmctXuT0</a></p> — FHS Volleyball (@franklinvolley1) <a href="https://x.com/franklinvolley1/status/1426657924022247427?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2021</a></blockquote> <p><script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="99508" first="Avery" last="Shimaitis"] – Outside Hitter – HS: George Ranch – Club: Houston Skyline - 2022</strong></p> <p>A Pepperdine commit, [player_tooltip player_id="99508" first="Avery" last="Shimaitis"] has been in top form with George Ranch at the start of the season. The 5'10” outside hitter's game has been so strong that she has double the offensive production of fellow Longhorn and rising star [player_tooltip player_id="87474" first="Allie" last="Sczech"], registering 168 kills against 77 of her teammate. Shimaitis had a 36-kill performance to start the season against Memorial and remained in double digits in all but one of the team's other nine matches, dropping 24 against Clear Creek. Her average of 6.2 kills per set is impressive and het 40.9% kill percentage is respectable for a player of her volume.</p> <p><iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/11635179/6119ad8e15f75d0ea8c8547a" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>