The Big Jump: Class of 2021

<p>We are grateful many girls had a chance to compete in 2020. Some schools started much later than most,  however the opportunity to play the sport they love can’t be taken for granted. We feel for the girls who lost half of their seasons. The young ladies showed perseverance and should be proud of themselves. The teams who were able to go from August to October with no interruption should be commended for their responsibility and placing the team and their desire to complete this season over personal "fun". Now, the high school season is over. Now, the high school season is over. We take a look at some of our seniors who aren't the biggest names in the state from a rankings perspective but had a big jump in a particular statistical category from their junior years. We understand adding more potential sets this fall lends to seeing higher statistics, however we did also compare things such as sets played, attempts, averages, etc. over the last two seasons in deciding who to highlight. </p> <p><strong>Kendal Boone - Lee’s Summit High School:</strong> The outside hitter become one of the top hitters in the state her final season. She increased 151 kills in 2020 and ended with 351 kills. </p> <p><strong>Maureen Matthews - Northwest: </strong> Matthews, a middle increased her kill numbers over 100, going from 171 kills and a .249 hitting percentage to 277 kills and a .369 percentage in her last year. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="41761" first="Melanie" last="Cox"] - Kickapoo:</strong> Another middle, Matthews saw her numbers take a huge jump this fall. In 2019, she had 97 kills in 69 sets. This year in 82 sets, the senior finished with 262 kills. </p> <p><strong>Morgan Leblanc - Branson:</strong> LeBlanc, a 5’9" outside hitter had a big production jump in 2020 in kills. She increased from 244 to 441 kills in her last season. </p> <p><strong>Morgan Frye - Warrenton:</strong> We aren’t finding numbers from Frye’s junior season and we don’t want to speculate but she ended this season with 371 kills. This is after a sophomore year with only 85 kills. </p> <p><strong>Brianna Utecht - Marshfield:</strong> Utecht had a senior season to remember. She had a hitting percentage of .270 to go along with 271 kills. This is following a junior year in which she totaled 80 kills at a .164 clip. </p> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="41780" first="Liberty" last="Coleman"] - Central:</strong> After a strong sophomore season, Coleman’s kill numbers dropped in 2019. Those numbers made a big jump this fall going from 117 to 354. </p> <p><strong>Chloe Thurmon - Dexter:</strong> Thurmon was a big reason behind Dexter’s 21-7 record this fall. The outside hitter took her kills to 323 from 119 in her final run. </p> <p><strong>Emma Brown - Woodland:</strong> Brown saw a big jump in her production in 2020 going from 2.4 kills per set to 3.8. She ended the season with 302 kills. </p> <p><strong>Jenny Nguyen - Lafayette:</strong> Nguyen’s assists jumped from 3 per set in 2019 to 9.9 in 2020. Her numbers doubled while only playing 57 sets this fall. </p> <p><strong>Paige Rowland - Osage:</strong> The senior setter had a year to remember. She saw her assist numbers blossom from 498 to 882 with the 40 added sets played in 2020. </p> <p><strong>Katrina Drake - Forsyth:</strong> Drake only played 8 more sets in 2020 and saw her assists jump more than 200 to 668. She also had close to 700 more attempts and 30 fewer errors. </p> <p><strong>Madi Bonzer - Spokane:</strong> Bonzer made a huge jump in her contributions in 2020. Her per set numbers went from 2.8 to 7 in the assist category in less than 300 more attempts. </p> <p><strong>Morgan Sanders - Lee’s Summit High School:</strong> The senior had to take over setting duties in her junior season but moved back to a hitter this fall. She was an aggressive server this year going from 23 aces last year to 52 in 2020 to lead class 5.</p> <p><strong>Madelyn Bourner - Jackson</strong> - The setter went from 21 aces in 2019 to 46 in her final campaign. This was good for second in Class 5 this year. </p> <p><strong>Clara Gover - Grain Valley: </strong> The senior became one of the top servers in the state this fall. She jumped from 16 aces to 87 this year as her attempts raised from 163 to 494. </p> <p><strong>Riley Foster - Smithville:</strong> Foster is another player who took advantage of her opportunity in 2020. She saw her serving aces go from 4 to 57. </p> <p><strong>Jenny Lamp - Kirksville:</strong> The senior served about 200 more times this fall and saw a huge increase in aces. Lamp ended with 61 aces after having only 6 in 2019. </p> <p><strong>Reagan Moddy - Sherwood:</strong> The senior had 39 more aces in 2020 while only having a little over 100 more attempts. </p> <p><strong>Kayla Smocks - St. Teresa’s: </strong>Smocks took over the libero jersey from being a specialist in her junior year. Her dig numbers rose from 142 to 426 in 2020. </p> <p><strong>Kinsey McAllister - Ozark:</strong> McAllister made the move to the libero role in 2020 and saw her numbers make a big jump. How about 149 digs in 2019 to 426 this fall. </p> <p><strong>Olivia Whittle - Camdenton:</strong> Whittle took advantage of 20 more sets in 2020. Her dig numbers made an amazing jump to 563 after earning 268 in her junior season. </p> <p><strong>Delaney Dohogne - Notre Dame:</strong> Dohogne ended her career with a bang. The senior took on the libero role and jumped from 170 digs to 755. This was all while playing only 8 more sets than the previous season. </p> <p><strong>Gracie Campbell - Cabool:</strong> The senior saw her digs per set jump 3 points in 2020. Campbell was key to the defense’s success with 449 digs up from 106. </p> <p><strong>Harley Russell - Clarkton:</strong> In her final season Russell saw her digs per match increase from 8.8 to 14.6 for 466 total. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>