The Big Jump: Class of 2022
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…
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Continue ReadingWe 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. We take a look at some of our juniors 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 sophomore 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.
Mia Trankler – Jackson: Trankler only played two more sets in 2020 than the previous year but saw her attempts and kills jump tremendously. She finished her junior season with 235 kills, up from 131.
Kaelyn McDonald – Lee’s Summit West: The Titans were looking for others to step up in 2020 and McDonald rose to the occasion. She took advantage of her increased role and playing time this fall earning 220 kills, a big jump from 76 her sophomore year.
Payton Kincaid – Camdenton: The middle/outside hitter had a breakthrough junior campaign. She saw her kill production jump from 156 to 308 from last year. Her hitting percentage also made strides, going from .231 to .338.
Makenzie Storm – Webb City: Storm saw her role increase in 2020 and took advantage of the opportunity. After only playing in 24 sets as a sophomore, she played 100 this fall and earned 183 kills. This was after only having 15 in 2019.
Ella Lewis – California: Lewis played around the same number of sets in 2020 as in 2019 and saw her numbers take a huge jump. She had 183 kills as a sophomore but jumped to 313 this fall for 3.8 per set.
Rainna Ostmann – Howell: Ostmann saw her assist numbers more than double this fall. In 2019, she dished out 202 in 50 sets. This year she played in 70 sets and finished with 525.
Lexi Shumpert – Liberty: Shumpert saw her kills per set numbers jump from 1.6 to 2.7 in her junior season. Her aces also doubled this fall from 23 to 45.
Jianna Halbrook – Pleasant Hope: When your attempts double it should be no surprise to see your production increase. That is what we saw from Halbrook this fall. She finished with 354 kills to lead the Class 2, up from 150. This was an increase of 1.6 kills per set.
Christa Duffel – Strafford: Duffel had an enormous junior season for Stafford. Her production per set increased going from 1.3 kills per set to 3.2. She finished this fall with 283 kills. She also saw her total blocks rise from 13 to 67 and digs 21 to 177.
Isabella Limback – Sana Fe: Limback’s sets increased only by 5 in 2020, but her numbers jump off the page. She would finish the year with 516 kills, up from 370 in her sophomore season.
Riley Arnold – Blue Eye: An increase of 200 in the kill category is what we saw from Arnold this year. She had 135 in 2019, for 1.8 per set. That number jumped to 4.6 per set and 335 in 2020.
Erin Treis – Seckman: The 5’8″ junior actually saw her sets played numbers decrease in 2020 but it didn’t affect her numbers. She finished her season with 446 assists, higher than the 222 in 2019.
Paige Gayer – Willard: In her first season of taking over the setting duties, Gayer utilized her firepower in her hitters to earn 895 assist in a state championship season. She only played in two sets as a sophomore.
Autumn Kaderly – Smithville: Kaderly took advantage of taking over the full-time setting responsibilities in 2020. She would finish with 648 assists, up from the 183 in her sophomore season.
Emerson Walter – Platte County: Walter joined the Pirates 6-2 offense this fall and played a huge role in their 3rd place finish this fall. She contributed to the offense with her 590 assists and state leading 116 aces.
Rylee Darnell – Seneca: This was a breakthrough season in many areas for Rylee Darnell. She went from 179 to 471 in the assists column. Her digs also increased from 50 to 221.
Sam Loida – Valle Catholic: Loida took over the reins leading the offense and had a huge season. She saw her assists rise from 171 to 863 in 2020 to lead class 2.
Molly Beckmann – Holt: Beckmann took advantage of her first season of full-time varsity action after playing very limitedly her first two years. She was among the state’s leaders in aces with 65.
Alexis Arnel – Howell: Arnel had one of the largest jumps around the state in production this fall. Her digs per match number jumped from 7.8 in 2019 to 23.4 this year while only adding 8 more sets.
Tatum Franks – Eldon: Franks took on more serving responsibilities in 2020 and made most of those attempts. After 168 attempts and 21 aces in 2019, she served 403 times for 63 aces.
Olivia Bourgault – Carthage: In her junior year, Bourgault made a steady increase from 121 to 315 digs. Her digs per set and per match numbers more than doubled.
Aubrie Brown – Union: After only playing in 6 sets as a sophomore, Brown jumped on the scene in her junior season. The defender had 453 digs, up from 20 the year prior.
Olivia Lewis – St Charles: Lewis played about the same sets in 2020 as 2019 but her production jumped drastically. Holding down the back row, she saw her digs jump from 118 to 386 this fall. That jump is from 4.2 digs per match to 24.1.
Avery Crain – Cassville: With fewer sets but a bigger role, Crain made a splash defensively in 2020. Her digs per set jumped from 1.1 in 2019 to 9.1 this year. She would finish her junior season with 428 digs, an increase from 70 the year prior.
Gabie McVey – Aurora: McVey improved around 10 digs per match in 2020. She would finish her junior season with 419 digs.
Natalie Ernst – St. Vincent: The move to the libero position paid off for Ernst in 2020. After a 2019 season in which she had 170 digs and 2.7 per set, she jumped to 6 per set for a total of 482.
Emma Datema – Billings: Datema made some major moves in the stat categories for Billings this fall. Her sets played increased from 57 to 83, but her numbers jumped to even higher levels. She led class 1 in digs with 542, up from 188. Her kills jumped from 37 to 161.
Ashley Gruenke – Meadow Heights: In her junior season, Gruenke digs jumped more than 3 per set and 10 per match in 2020. She finished this fall with 443 digs in 82 sets.