Standout Underclassmen at the State 2A Championships

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Columbia River attacked over, through, and around opponents all season long and they did the same Friday and Saturday at the 2A Championship tournament in the Yakima Sun Dome. The Rapids dropped just one set on the season and captured their third straight 2A title. Plenty of high-level players were on all the courts, and matches were highly competitive outside of the Rapids wash. Here are several underclassmen who excelled in the two-day competition.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em><strong>Prep Dig is putting on the Washington Top 250 Expo for Class of 2024-27 prospects on Dec. 2 in Lynnwood</strong>. <a href="http://Click Here">https://events.prepdig.com/e/907/register/washington-top-250-expo</a> to sign up for the event. Check out the attendee list to see the great players from across the state already signed up.</em><a href="https://events.prepdig.com/e/907/attendees"><em> https://events.prepdig.com/e/907/atte</em></a><a href="http://attendees"><em>ndees</em></a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Sydney Dreves, Jr. OH Columbia River</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The younger of the two Dreves sisters, Sydney is silky smooth as a defender and has the strength and athleticism to terminate from the pin at a high level. As a defender, she has the length and willingness to reach balls all over the court and is meticulous in her approach to passing both digs and serves. Dreves worked just as hard as a passer as she did as an attacker, allowing the Rapid's other big hitters great opportunities. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Callie Curran, Jr. S Ridgefield</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Anytime you have a hitter rack up 46 kills in a match, you know a setter is doing a great job. Facing a tough Ellensburg team in the semi-finals, Curran found <strong>Lizzy Andrew </strong>when the match was on the line multiple times to keep the Spudders alive. Curran is tall with good hands and knows to keep the set high for her attackers. The match point in the grueling 5-set battle was a perfectly placed "1" that Andrew scorched over the top of a triple block for the winner. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='505570' first='Andi' last='Musser'], So. OH Ellensburg</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Musser stepped in as a late-season injury replacement and showed she will be making an impact for the next two seasons. The 5'10 sophomore has a quality approach on the right side and ripped some hard shots to score down the line. Ellensburg loses three quality seniors but brings back nine for next year. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Finely Parcher, Fr. MB Lynden</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It took watching just one explosive slide swing for a booming kill on a sweet set from <strong>Grace Rice</strong> to know Parcher was going to be a difference-maker over the two-day event. She has the height and ability to be a serious force in the middle, and the 6'1 MB showed a nice improvement from the early part of the season to November. Parcher is a breakout club candidate to watch this season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Ellie Johnson, So. MB Black Hills</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Johnson is a willowy 5'10 sophomore who took nice swings from the middle and on the outside pin for Black Hills. She has a solid work ethic on the block and was all effort on the floor, moving urgently in transition to create opportunities. She has good ball skills too, she had several nice accurate bump sets on second-ball chances from the middle. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='733922' first='Auddy' last='Gray'], Jr. L/DS Ephrata</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A multi-sport athlete with quick feet and strong hands, Gray was all over the court against Black Hills in the matchup for the 7th/8th place trophy. She handled hard serves and swings overhand accurately and made one-handed diving digs on multiple occasions. Gray was the Defensive Player of the Year in the 2A CWAC and it showed!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Kianna Rohner, So. MB White River</strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rohner has vision as an attacker, and she backs that up with a powerful approach and arm swing. She was able to rack up kills all season running the seam and the quick, and working the ball around the block with power tips, soft touch, and the hammer. Rohner swings with purpose out of the middle, using the whole court to score. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='499413' first='Kallie' last='Smith'], Fr. L/DS <strong>Burlington-Edison</strong></strong></h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Without a doubt, Burlington-Edison has two great juniors who deserve their individual mentions, attackers <strong>Mia Whitlock</strong> and <strong>Lexie Mason</strong>. Those two stat-stuffers will be on the radar as big-timers over the next year and change. How about #1 in the libero jersey for the Tigers? It's not an easy task to play in huge matches as a freshman, but Smith held up against attackers and the pressure of the moment equally well. She keeps her digs off the net, smartly allowing her team to take advantage of their two tremendous pins.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->