First Look At The Ottawa Cyclones

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I had not watched an Ottawa Cylones match since the summer 2023, in Washburn's MOKAN Tournament.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I scouted two of Ottawa's matches on September 18 at Shawnee Heights. The Cyclones came up short in two road matches against the host T-Birds and Hayden Wildcats.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a look at four prospects I scouted closely.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='809605' first='Dylan' last='Nichols']</strong>, 6'1”, MB, Ottawa, '26</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nichols is ranked No. 173 overall in the Kansas Class of 2026. She entered the evening with 44 kills and six blocks in 13 sets played. She is coming off a knee injury and played like she was without pain and moved well. She recorded four kills and two digs in the loss to Hayden, and began the evening with five kills, one dig, and one block against Shawnee Heights.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Leah Askins-Dieterich</strong>, 5'8”, S, Ottawa, '27</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Askins-Dieterich is a multiple-sport prospect ranked No. 21 overall by Prep Girls Hoops Kansas in the 2027 class. She is an active setter and carried all of the setting duties on her shoulders in both matches. She finished with 14 assists against Shawnee Heights and nine assists against Hayden. She plays solid defense and plays six rotations. She is quick and does a nice job of keeping all of the hitters involved in the offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='811630' first='Becca' last='Meyer']</strong>, 6'0”, OH, Ottawa, '27</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The biggest surprise of the night was catching Meyer's game for the first time. She plays six rotations for the Cyclones and is a natural athlete. She is quick for her size and can play both a physical and graceful style of ball. She finished the opening match with a team-high seven kills. She also added four digs and five serve receptions against the T-Birds. Her stat line against Hayden included four kills, eight digs, five serve receptions, one ace, and one powerful block.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='566830' first='Kirby' last='Evans']</strong>, 5'4”, DS/L, Ottawa, '28</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I would not have guessed that Evans was just a sophomore. She had a stellar defensive night in the two matches. She finished with 18 serve receptions and eight digs against Hayden. She recorded 16 serve receptions and 11 digs against Shawnee Heights. She put her setter in a good position all night and did not back down from being targeted by both teams. Prep Dig profiles have been created for both Evans and Meyer, and they will be added to rankings later this fall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->