State Finals: Division 1 Standouts

<p>Harvard-Westlake proved too much for Hillsdale in the Division 1 final. The Wolverines had it working from just about everywhere and held it down in four sets 25-17, 25-15, 23-25, 25-18. Check out which players shined for their respective teams.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="163271" first="Kennedy" last="Hill"], 6-0 Middle Blocker, Sr, Harvard-Westlake</strong> – Hitting .500 on 22 swings with 15 kills are numbers that will get you noticed but it was the authority that Hill played with that really stood out as HW claimed the Division 1 title. Time and time again she came through emphatically, energizing the Wolverines in the process. Additionally, she tied for the team lead with 2 blocks.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="163280" first="Grace" last="Thrower"], 6-1 Right Side, Jr, Harvard-Westlake</strong> – Thrower’s numbers were impressive as well, finishing with 10 kills on 23 swings and hitting .348. She was a presence defensively too, with 9 digs. Hillsdale had a tough go timing Thrower’s attacks. And even if the block was there, Thrower was able to go over the top of it. She was also used on the slide attack, bringing some versatility to the offense.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="163278" first="Avery" last="Jones"], 6-1 Middle Blocker, Jr, Harvard-Westlake</strong> – The Wolverines used Jones in multiple looks as well, setting her both on the left and in the middle. The junior produced, posting 10 kills on 20 swings and hitting .350. She also tied with Hill for 2 blocks.</p> <p><strong>Neha Tummala, 5-8 Setter, Jr, Harvard-Westlake</strong> – Give credit to the way the Wolverines took care of the ball because it allowed Tummala to do her thing and spread the attack around. Four players had at least 20 swings and a fifth had 15. Tummala ended with 43 assists and did a fine job of keeping Hillsdale off balanced.</p> <p><strong>Ava-Marie Lange, 6-2 Outside, Jr, Harvard-Westlake</strong> – Lange wasn’t so much needed in the offensive attack the way things were going for the Wolverines. But she provided a steady presence defensively, leading the way with 14 digs. She was the only player from HW to reach double digits in digs. On top of that, she held her own in serve receive, which helped keep the Wolverines in system much of the evening.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="160902" first="Rianna" last="Liu"], 5-10 Setter, Jr, Hillsdale</strong> – Liu did her part to keep the Fighting Knights competitive. She finished with 28 assists after switching to a 6-2 for a bit later in the match. She was effective on the right as a hitter, putting up 6 kills on 13 swings and hitting .308.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="159497" first="Victoria" last="Vanos"], 6-2 Outside, Sr, Hillsdale</strong> – Hillsdale put a lot on Vanos’ shoulders and she did well carrying the load. Her finals numbers were 15 kills on 38 swings and hitting .263 with 7 digs and 3 aces. She showed she was able to scoring in a variety of ways from tips to off speed rolls to tooling the block and big rips when the opportunity was there.</p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="159978" first="Jessica" last="Dean"], 5-11 Outside, Sr, Hillsdale</strong> – The big block Harvard-Westlake put in front of Dean helped slow down the senior at times but she was called upon a lot in order to help Hillsdale remain in the match. Dean took a match-high 44 swings, delivering 15 kills and ending with a double-double by adding 13 digs. </p>