Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The 2021 volleyball season will officially come to a close on Thursday when state champions are crowned in all five classes.

Once again some of the best volleyball in the state was played in the Your Prep Sports area.

Before we close the book on the 2021 season we take a look back at some of the best plays, moments and performances from area teams and players during another stellar season for area squads.

Best individual performance: Bliss Beck against Benton Community. This may go down as the moment Beck announced herself as one of the best in the WAMAC West hammering 25 kills on .365 hitting and adding 10 blocks in a five-set Clipper win.

Best individual performance part 2: Claire Ernst against Southeast Polk. In a win or go home meeting with the Rams in the regional semifinals Ernst had perhaps the best performance of her young career with 22 kills on .281 hitting to go with 14 digs and three ace serves.

Best team performance: City High against West High. Teams likely had a better hitting percentage, more kills and more efficient performances than the Little Hawks did against its cross-town rival but perhaps no team played up to its potential more than City High in the annual battle for the Spike. City High hit .318, had four players with at least five kills and had held an 8-4 edge in blocks and 7-3 advantage in ace serves in a three-set sweep.

Coach(es) of the year: Randy Dolson and Allie Kelly. For the first time Kelly was elevated from assistant to co-head coach with veteran Dolson and the transition was seamless as Liberty High went 34-5 against an incredibly challenging schedule and advanced to the 5A state tournament for the third consecutive season.

Most clutch performance: Cassidy Hartman against Johnston. For the second year in a row Hartman produced perhaps her best performance of the season in the biggest moment hammering 32 kills on .324 hitting in a five-set loss to the Dragons in a Class 5A state quarterfinal match.

Most exciting player: West High sophomore Melae’ Lacy. The standout sophomore plays with a lot of energy and has explosive athleticism which makes her a must watch but it’s the production (247 kills, 35 blocks) that adds to the excitement that comes with watching Lacy.

Biggest upset: West High over Pleasant Valley. The Trojans pulled one of the bigger stunners of the year in Class 5A during the opening week of the season handing second-ranked Pleasant Valley one of its four losses with a 13-21, 21-14, 17-15 victory at the MVC-MAC challenge.

Best match: West High over Cedar Rapids Xavier. As always there were several candidates including Clear Creek Amana’s five-set road win at Benton Community but West High gets the nod for it’s come-from-behind, five-set win over fourth-ranked Xavier. West High had to win the final two sets, including an epic 30-28 victory in the fourth to pull out a 20-25, 27-25, 21-25, 30-28, 15-12 thriller.

Best quote: Liberty High senior Sam Harvey. “I play with a lot of adrenaline, I play with a lot of anger and passion. We had a talk out there as a team and we just talked about not giving up and just fighting for each other and I just used my adrenaline to push me.”

Breakthrough performer: Clear Creek Amana sophomore Bliss Beck. The 6-foot-2 Beck had a strong debut season last fall with 102 kills and 22 blocks but took her game to an entirely new level as a sophomore hitting .332 with 306 kills and ranking fourth in 4A with 92 blocks while being named WAMAC West Division player of the year.

Breakthrough performer part 2: City High sophomore Claire Ernst. Another sophomore to take their game to another level this season Ernst built on a strong freshman campaign with a stellar second season in which she led the Little Hawks with 327 kills on .256 hitting while adding 214 digs and 26 ace serves.

Back row player of the year: West High senior Katherine Kouba. A steady and stabilizing presence in the West High back row for the past four season Kouba has her best season yet as a senior collecting a career-high 410 digs to finish her career with 1,315 digs.

Most improved: Regina senior Lily Simpson. After producing 329 total kills in her first three seasons combined Simpson nearly matched that total as a senior hammering a career-high 309 kills while hitting .264 and also led the Regals with 178 digs, 40 blocks and was second on the team with 38 ace serves.

Under the radar star: City High senior Makayla Ribble. A four-year varsity starter Ribble certainly received recognition during her stellar prep career that ended with 1,959 assists but was more valuable to City High than what showed up on the stat sheet even during a senior year in which she had a career-high 739 assists, 98 kills and 252 digs.

Most consistent: West Branch senior Lexi Klinkkammer. Since Klinkkammer entered the West Branch lineup as a freshman you always knew what to expect from her – solid production. Klinkkammer had double digit kills in nine of 10 best of five matches this season, averaging 15 kills per match, and had at least 190 kills in all four varsity seasons finishing her career with 1,007 kills.

Most reliable: Clear Creek Amana senior Calia Clubb. For the past four seasons if Clear Creek Amana needed a kill the ball was going to Clubb and more often than not she produced. Clubb finished her career with 1,191 kills after leading the Clippers in kills for the fourth consecutive season with 340 this fall.

Unsung hero: West High senior Sydney Woods. Woods quietly put together a stellar senior season ranking second on the team with 172 kills and 244 digs and leading West High with 38 ace serves.

Freshman of the year: Liberty High’s Asta Hildebrand. Hildebrand didn’t just find a way into the rotation for top-ranked Liberty High as a freshman she became an impact player ranking second on the team with 429 assists, fifth with 129 kills and 174 digs and fourth with 22 ace serves.

Freshman of the year part 2: City High’s Emmy McComas. Another first-year player to produce at a high level immediately, McComas ranked second on the team with 219 and led the Little Hawks with 316 digs and was third on the team with 23 ace serves.

Newcomer of the year: Regina senior Peyton Naeve. In her first season in the Regina lineup Naeve had an immediate impact leading the Regals with 313 assists and 39 ace serves and ranking second on the team with 117 kills.

Most valuable player: Liberty High junior Cassidy Hartman. Already an elite all-state pick Hartman just continues to improve, posting her best season yet as a junior while cementing her status as one of the state’s best players. Hartman ranked fourth in 5A in kills with 423 and added 400 digs to go with 48 blocks and 27 ace serves.

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