The best from each class – District 2B Central

<p>The start of the high school volleyball season in Washington is closer than ever and at this point, you should already be very familiar with the best teams and the most impressive players from each district as we analyzed them in detail for the last few months in our several different series.</p> <p>However, we know one of the reasons why many of you follow high school volleyball is to try and anticipate which prospects have what it takes to succeed at the collegiate level and beyond. So, in this series, we’ll share our best guesses and list the top student-athletes from each of the next three graduating classes in each State district.</p> <p>The 2B Central District is formed by 12 high schools and these are our selections:</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Class of 2021</strong></p> [caption id="attachment_110785" align="alignleft" width="150"]<img class="wp-image-110785 size-thumbnail" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pd/uploads/2020/10/nikarra-smith-head-shot-e1601533087201-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" /> Photo: Excel NW[/caption] <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="97006" first="Nikarra" last="Smith"] – Outside Hitter/Middle-Blocker – Toutle Lake</strong></p> <p>Anyone watching [player_tooltip player_id="97006" first="Nikarra" last="Smith"] play for a few minutes quickly identifies offense as her biggest asset for Toutle Lake. The towering 6’1” player seems the ball more often than any of her Lady Duck teammates and she typically puts it to the ground quickly. Besides her great size, Smith has also impressive speed and a wide variety of shots that make her very difficult to stop at the net. She’s also a capable blocker and server and that combination made of her an All-State first-team nomination in 2019. She also ranks 27th at prepdig.com’s class of 2021 rankings.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/19o8B2_O5no" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Class of 2022</strong></p> <p><strong>Paige Chinchen – Outside Hitter/Defensive Specialist – Kalama</strong></p> <p>Outside hitters are probably the players who need to have the strongest all-around game in a volleyball team and Paige Chinchen certainly doesn’t disappoint in that regard. The Kalama prospect is smart and talented enough at the backcourt that she can easily be used as a defensive specialist if needed. At 5’9”,  she also knows her way around the net and complements those skills with a good jump-serving ability. Also a track and field athlete for the Chinooks, Chinchen made it to the All-State team last season as an honorable mention.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/o5kfYp5fzIA" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Class of 2023</strong></p> <p><strong>Payton Torrey – Outside Hitter – Mossyrock</strong></p> <p>Payton Torrey took the district by storm immediately becoming a key piece in Mossyrock’s team that won all of its 11 matches last season. Then a freshman, the 5’8” outside hitter seemed still to be playing in middle schools as she was the Vikings’ second-best hitter with 145 kills. Torey, who also plays basketball for the school, showed some other intriguing skills with showed her versatility offering important contributions in other areas of the game with her 37 aces, 214 digs and 197 passes.</p>