Power And Accuracy: Volleyball Unicorns

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of my favorite movies growing up was <strong><em>The Goonies</em></strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In that movie, they are on the hunt for "Fortune and Glory."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the world of volleyball, fortune and glory can partially be attained by an athlete who can serve with both power and accuracy.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I did some digging this weekend to determine which Kansas athletes finished among the state leaders in aces and serve percentage.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are five of the best.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This is not an all-inclusive list. Not all high school programs release public statistics. I included only athletes with complete Prep Dig Profiles. The benchmarks for this report were at least 80 total aces and a serve percentage of 85 percent or higher. Also, just for clarification, I rounded up or down the percentages. Who wants to mess with decimals?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Stay tuned for a second report today on eight more accurate and powerful serve specialists.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["556362"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6976ca7c6c677"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">The first athlete to make the cut for this report is one I am all too familiar with. Ellinwood's Maxwell finished her sophomore season with 91 aces in 100 sets played. Her percentage of serves in play was 97 percent. She is ranked No. 8 overall in the Kansas Class of 2028. She was a jack of all trades for the undefeated Eagles last season and dished out 605 assists on Ellinwood's path to a state championship season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["355658"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6976ca7c6c6e8"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Arnold was a complete surprise on this list, and I imagine it's because I have not seen her play in person. She finished her senior season with 103 aces in 88 sets played. Her serving percentage was an impressive 93 percent. She is ranked No. 177 overall in the Kansas Class of 2026. To my knowledge, she is uncommitted. Arnold has registered back-to-back seasons with 400-plus assists for the Lions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["483912"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6976ca7c6c73c"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Bott is ranked No. 53 overall in the Kansas Class of 2027. She finished her junior season with 83 aces in 88 sets played for the Bulldogs. Her serving accuracy totaled out at 91 percent. She also dished out 479 assists last fall. I was also surprised by the number of setters qualified for this report.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["644731"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6976ca7c6c798"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">I am not sure that there is anything Criqui can't do on a volleyball court. She was all over the state leaderboard last season. She finished her sophomore season with 97 aces and a serving percentage of 90 percent over 95 sets played. She is ranked No. 37 overall in the Kansas Class of 2028. Pretty much all of Criqui's numbers were eye-popping, but the other stat of hers that stands out above the rest was her total of 581 kills for the Trojans.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["483894"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6976ca7c6c7ff"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Simic finished with 115 aces in 105 sets played during her junior season. Her serving percentage with the Cardinals was 87 percent. She is ranked No. 5 overall in the Kansas Class of 2027 and verbally committed to the University of Illinois. Simic was also one of the top attackers last season, recording 574 kills for Hoisington.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["446314"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"","_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"preview","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6976ca7c6c84f"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Bronson had an outstanding serving season as a junior. She collected 95 aces in 91 sets played. She was accurate to the tune of 85 percent. She is ranked No. 30 overall in the Kansas Class of 2027. She is verbally committed to the University of Northern Iowa. Bronson has recorded back-to-back seasons with at least 300 kills and 200 digs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->