Best In The West: Western Kansas 2025 Hitting Machines

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As we head into team camp and combine season, I would like to feature a small group of hitters from the class of 2025 who I hope I get to see at some point this summer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>These five athletes compete for western Kansas programs and have not recently been featured on Prep Dig.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='493398' first='Sophia' last='Thompson']</strong>, 6'1”, MB, Beloit</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One athlete I hope to see compete in June is Beloit's Thompson. She is currently ranked No. 6 by Prep Dig in the 2025 player rankings. Thompson has a huge reach and is verbally committed to Wichita State University. Thompson's most impressive stat from her junior season was her block total of 103. She also collected 177 kills in 70 sets played. Beloit is scheduled to compete in a tournament in Abilene during the last week of June that I plan on scouting.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='219716' first='Kendal' last='Brueggen']</strong>, 5'10”, OH, Hesston</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Brueggen is a talented dual-sport prospect from Hesston. She is currently ranked No. 21 by Prep Dig in the class of 2025. She is also ranked No. 12 by Prep Girls Hoops Kansas for her basketball skills. It's starting to look like basketball might be the sport she plays collegiately. She has recently announced on social media that she has received offers to play at Missouri State University and the University of Illinois-Chicago. She racked up an eye-popping total of 570 kills last season for the Swathers. She has a career total of 1,162 kills. She would be a great addition to any college in either sport.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275626' first='Kennedy' last='Behnke']</strong>, 5'11”, MB, Ellinwood</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ellinwood is a program that should be fun to watch this fall. I have featured multiple underclassmen on this squad of late, and now the spotlight shines on Behnke. She heads into her senior season with 445 career kills. Her numbers were down during her junior season as she lost some time due to an injury. Behnke is currently ranked No. 59 overall among her 2025 peers in Kansas. She has solid hitting skills and could be a huge addition to an NAIA program looking for a middle from the class of 2025.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='173378' first='Piper' last='Harris']</strong>, 5'10”, OH, Garden City</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Harris is nothing if not consistent. She has posted three consecutive seasons with around 300 kills. She finished with 311 last season in 93 sets and is just 83 kills short of joining the 1,000-kill club. Harris is a six-rotation player who has more than 1,000 career serve receptions. She finished with 338 digs for Garden City during her junior campaign. She will reach the 1,000 dig threshold with 244 digs during her senior season. Harris is currently ranked No. 73 in the class of 2025 and is also a solid softball prospect.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='493414' first='Ani' last='Koontz']</strong>, 5'11”, MB, Newton</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Newton's Koontz is currently ranked No. 113 overall in the class of 2025. She finished her junior season with 183 kills in 81 sets played. She also finished with 47 total blocks and 20 aces. She will be leaned on heavily to be a leader for the Railers as a senior.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->