2021 Season Retrospective: Star Seniors Make Their Mark at State

<p>Nebraska’s Class of 2022 is special. It’s time to give a nod to the seniors who helped pave the way throughout their high school careers.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Heavy-Hitting Outsides</strong></p> <p>There are so many names we could cover here. The Class of 2022 had no shortage of high-impact outside hitters that dominated the high school scene for a long time.</p> <p>[player_tooltip player_id="37535" first="Kali" last="Jurgensmeier"] wrapped up her career at the state championships this year. The Bishop Neumann product is an exciting outside-middle hybrid player who will add plenty more kills to her total at the next level.</p> <p>Jurgensmeier is part of a great group of 2022 outside hitters that hail from places not named Lincoln or Omaha. [player_tooltip player_id="37577" first="Ashley" last="Keck"] displayed her ability to take over matches last week when she shined in Kearney Catholic’s tournament run. Of course, [player_tooltip player_id="58776" first="Bailey" last="Helzer"] did the same for C2 champion Oakland-Craig, and [player_tooltip player_id="58771" first="Shayla" last="Meyer"] helped her Superior team to the big stage on multiple occasions. Mead also had a great year and an appearance in the tournament behind several big performances from [player_tooltip player_id="58792" first="Brianna" last="Lemke"].</p> <p>Venture into the big-city metros and you’ll obviously find more senior outsides who have put together years of standout moments. [player_tooltip player_id="37542" first="Ella" last="Waters"] helped her team to multiple Class B championship match appearances at Norris. [player_tooltip player_id="58782" first="Shaylee" last="Myers"] was a gamechanger for Lincoln Southwest, and [player_tooltip player_id="58783" first="Skylar" last="McCune"] had a similar impact on Gretna.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Duos, Trios, and More</strong></p> <p>We spend a lot of time highlighting individual performances here, but volleyball is obviously a team sport. Groups of players come together and make each other better. We can demonstrate that with some of the great 2022 teammates that had tons of success playing on the same side of the net.</p> <p>Elkhorn South owes a lot to its group of seniors. [player_tooltip player_id="58781" first="Madi" last="Woodin"] rewrote the record book several times during her career. She was assisted by great backcourt play from [player_tooltip player_id="58775" first="Estella" last="Zatechka"] and [player_tooltip player_id="58811" first="Katie" last="Galligan"]. The middle blocker spot was experienced, too, with [player_tooltip player_id="143576" first="Mia" last="Mroczek"] and [player_tooltip player_id="151142" first="Kaitlin" last="Thiebauth"] making big strides during the 2021 season.</p> [caption id="attachment_165279" align="alignright" width="514"]<a href="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/11/IMG_5055-crop-3374x2215-1636741533.jpg"><img class="wp-image-165279" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2021/11/IMG_5055-crop-3374x2215-1636741533-300x197.jpg" alt="" width="514" height="337" /></a> Brewer (4) anchors the block in the middle.[/caption] <p>Millard West will think back fondly on the careers of their departing seniors. [player_tooltip player_id="58798" first="Sadie" last="Millard"], [player_tooltip player_id="58779" first="Ella" last="Hazen"], [player_tooltip player_id="37555" first="Maddie" last="MacTaggart"], <strong>Kylah Brewer</strong>, <strong>Sidney Linder</strong>, and <strong>Lulu Ahl</strong> helped put the Wildcats on the map and ended their tenures in the state championship match. That should serve as a launching point for future Wildcats to carry on this success.</p> <p>Class B champion Omaha Skutt showed plenty of senior cohesion, too. The connection between [player_tooltip player_id="37531" first="Abby" last="Schomers"] and [player_tooltip player_id="37532" first="Ava" last="Heyne"] was so fluid throughout the tournament. These two are sure to find success at their Division 1 destinations.</p> <p>Of course, Skutt faced some heavy resistance in pursuit of that title. In the semifinal round, the senior trio of [player_tooltip player_id="37528" first="Bekka" last="Allick"], [player_tooltip player_id="58796" first="Hannah" last="Allick"], and [player_tooltip player_id="58797" first="Karsen" last="VanScoy"] showed that they can step up in a big match with their season on the line.</p> <p>The Class B runner-up also had a large senior contingent. I’ve already mentioned Waters, but [player_tooltip player_id="37546" first="Maisie" last="Boesiger"] and [player_tooltip player_id="82269" first="Sydney" last="Jelinek"] were equally impactful in Norris’ long stretch of success. Their production will be difficult to replace, even for an elite Titans program.</p> <p>Sutton’s senior class cannot be overlooked as the Fillies made a huge charge to the C2 title match. <strong>Reagan Vavricek</strong> had a particularly productive week as she helped her team overcome several big deficits throughout the tournament.</p> <p>Then, there’s the Class D1 and D2 stars that I’ve been raving about all week. [player_tooltip player_id="58770" first="Ellie" last="Baumert"] had a perfect conclusion to her great career as a setter-hitter for Howells-Dodge. I also think back to the crucial serving run from senior captain <strong>Brooklyn Macholan</strong> that lifted the Jaguars to a five-set win in the semifinal match against Nebraska Christian.</p> <p>In D2, the success of Falls City Sacred Heart’s senior corps has been well-documented. [player_tooltip player_id="58774" first="Erison" last="Vonderschmidt"] and [player_tooltip player_id="58809" first="Rachel" last="Magdanz"] connected so well throughout. <strong>Taylor Frederick</strong>, <strong>Emma Frederick</strong>, and <strong>Lauren Malone</strong> were also indispensable contributors who were always there to make a big play in clutch moments. That is, after all, what seniors do.</p>