Week 6’s Ten Prep Standouts

<p>It was another solid week of prep action in the 2023 season that included more standout performances.</p>   <p>Here's a look at 10 players that really pushed their teams to big victories.</p>   <p><em>*Stats were provided through MaxPreps and Hudl. Tag @PrepDigMI on Twitter with your stat leaders and highlights if you have a worthy candidate.</em></p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='343669' first='Chloe' last='Aalfs'], Jr. OH Buchanan</strong></h2>   <p>Buchanan continues to be a force in the Division 3 race and last week saw a big five-set win over Niles Brandywine. Aalfs has been a major driving force for the offense all season, coming up big in last week's victory with 22 kills and 19 digs. She's been coming away with double-digit kills performance consistently while also being a defensive asset with her passing and blocking ability.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='110280' first='Katie' last='Berry'], Sr. OH South Lyon East</strong></h2>   <p>The Cougars picked up a four-set win over Walled Lake Northern to get into the driver's seat in the Lakes Valley Conference. In the win, Berry had 11 kills to lead a balanced offense, but came through with key kills down the stretch for East. She followed that up with nine kills to lead East in a win over Milford later in the week.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='110295' first='Elana' last='Erickson'] Sr. OH Forest Hills Northern</strong></h2>   <p>The Miss Volleyball finalist joined an exclusive milestone club last week. She crossed 1,500 career kills, 1,000 career digs and 250 career aces. Her efforts last week helped the Huskies pick up a pair of big wins over Forest Hills Central and Grand Rapids Christian.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='449093' first='Skyye' last='Frailey'], So. OH Troy Athens</strong></h2>   <p>The Red Hawks took control of the OAA White last week with a pair of wins over Berkley and Avondale. Frailey really took control in the win over Berkley, putting down 23 kills to lead Athens to the win. She followed that up with another 15 kills against Avondale, as she's quickly developing into one of the top young finishers in the state.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='156343' first='Navea' last='Gauthier'], Jr. OH Shelby</strong></h2>   <p>Gauthier has Shelby turning the corner this season. They have won five straight matches coming into the week with Gauthier dominating along the way. She has recorded at least 23 kills in four of her last five matches. That includes a 32-kill performance against Ravenna last week and a 27-kill performance against Newaygo in two sets. Gauthier is averaging eight kills per set this season and has 337 through just 42 sets in 2023. She's quickly approaching 2,000 kills in her career.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='200397' first='Dylann' last='Kelly'], Jr. OH/MH Jenison</strong></h2>   <p>Jenison had one of its biggest wins of the season last week when it won a five-set battle with Rockford. In the match, three sets were decided by two points. It was a back-and-forth thriller that Kelly helped lead Jenison to the victory. Kelly did a little bit of everything in the win. She had 19 kills to go along with nine digs, four aces and three blocks.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='110315' first='Avry' last='Nelson'], Sr. MH Northville</strong></h2>   <p>The Mustangs picked up a big win last week in the KLAA, defeating Brighton in four sets in one of the featured contests of the week. Nelson slammed down nine kills in the win, but where she really made the impact was defensively with seven blocks. Her long reach created a lot of problems for the Bulldog attack.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Kayden Warren, Sr. MH Grand Rapids Christian</strong></h2>   <p>The Eagles had a tough week of matchups, but the featured one came early against Byron Center. GRC managed a five-set win that could have went either way. Warren was a huge part of the win, as she hit a jaw-dropping .750 for the Eagles and finished with 12 kills to lead the offense. She also had four blocks to help lead the defensive effort.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='110333' first='Izzy' last='Whittaker'], Sr. OH Grand Haven</strong></h2>   <p>Grand Haven had a nice showing this past weekend, earning solid wins over Lake Orion and Lowell while going five sets with Marian. During the quad, Whittaker recorded her 1,000<sup>th</sup>-career kill for the Buccaneers. Whittaker put together 50 kills over the three matches to get to the milestone mark.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='455952' first='Sofie' last='Williams'], Fr. OH/MH Oakland Christian</strong></h2>   <p>One freshman that has quietly been putting together a great year is Williams, who has stepped in immediately to be a leader for the D4 Oakland Christian program. Last week she put down eight kills against D3's Laingsburg and has been steadily putting down double-digit kills. She's got a lot of pop and can finish from the front row or back. A highlight for the year was a 16-kill performance against Inter-City Baptist.</p>

It was another solid week of prep action in the 2023 season that included more standout performances.