Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

The volleyball season came to an end last week with the crowning of five state champions on Friday at Xtream Arena in Coralville.

A pair of Your Prep Sports area teams reached the state tournament as Clear Creek Amana appeared at the state tournament for third consecutive season and Regina reached the state tournament for the first time since 2017.

The state tournament capped yet another memorable season of volleyball in the Your Prep Sports area.

Before closing the book on the 2024 season Your Prep Sports puts the finishing touches on the season by looking back at some of the best plays, performances, moments and matches in the area.

Best individual performance: Sophia Austen against City High. The breakout game in a breakthrough season for Austen came in a five-set win over rival City High as the sophomore standout hammered a career-high 32 kills on .324 hitting. Austen had 24 kills over the final three sets including five in the decisive fifth set and added 16 digs and two blocks.

Best individual performance part 2: Yasmine Sell against Independence. A four-year starter Sell was rarely better than she was on senior night in a win over Independence. Sell had a career-high 18 kills on .516 hitting and added three blocks in a four-set win.

Best team performance: Clear Creek Amana against Dallas Center-Grimes. Often the ‘best team performance’ is designated for the best game a team played. This time it’s the best a group played together as a team and that was the Clippers in its regional final. Four different players had at least seven kills as CCA earned a third consecutive state tournament appearance with a four-set win over the Mustangs.

Coach of the year: Lauren Hansen. Regina had to replace four starters including one of its top two hitters and its setter from a team that won 26 games in 2023. Despite those losses Hansen led Regina to a 24-15 record and the program’s first state tournament appearance since 2017.

Coach of the year part 2: Jackie Clubb. The third consecutive state tournament appearance for Clear Creek Amana may have just been the best coaching job by Clubb. Clear Creek Amana graduated four senior starters from its 46-1 semifinal team in 2023 including three of its top four hitters. With three underclassmen among seven players getting their first extended varsity action this season Clear Creek Amana won 37 matches and returned to the state tournament.

Best clutch performance: Reese Naeve against Pella Christian. Naeve hammered a career-high 42 kills in a five-set win over Monticello this season but her best performance came in the biggest match of her career. Naeve had 39 kills on .479 hitting and added 16 digs and three blocks in a four-set win over Pella Christian in the regional title game.

Best all-around player: Liberty High senior Asta Hildebrand. Few players in the state had the ability to affect a match in a variety of ways the way that Hildebrand did over the course of her career. A four-year starter Hildebrand closed her career with more than 1,000 assists, 1,000 digs and nearly 900 kills. This season Hildebrand led the Lightning in kills (299), ranked second in assists (291) and digs (258) was third in blocks (46) and fourth in ace serves (23).

Biggest upset: City High over Cedar Falls. Three City High players had double digit kills led by Emmy McComas with 16 as the Little Hawks pulled off the five-set upset at seventh-ranked Cedar Falls winning the fifth set 18-16.

Best comeback: Regina against Monticello. Naeve stole the show with a career-high 42 kills but the Regals rallied from a two sets to none deficit against a Monticello squad that won 26 games and advanced to the 3A regional title game.

Best match: West High over City High. What else would it be other than the annual Battle for the Spike. West High overcame an opening-set loss and a late City High surge to win the cross-town showdown in five sets for the second time in the past three seasons.

Breakthrough performer: Clear Creek Amana junior Emily Henderson. In her third season as a starter Henderson simply took her game to another level. Henderson was good as a freshman and sophomore but emerged as one of the top setters in the state as a junior while leading the Clippers with 928 assists to go with 96 kills, 302 digs, 48 blocks and a team-high 44 ace serves.

Most improved: City High sophomore Kaitlin Loria. In her second varsity season Loria more than tripled her kill total from a year ago while leading the Little Hawks in kills. Loria had a team-high 195 kills on .212 hitting during a breakthrough sophomore season in which she also had ranked third on the team with 25 blocks.

Breakout star: West High sophomore Sophia Austen. As a freshman last season Austen flashed her impressive potential posting 159 kills and 210 digs. This season Austen turned that potential in production while emerging as one of the best young hitters in the state. Austen had a team-high 306 kills on .223 hitting to go with 235 digs and 30 blocks while helping the Trojans to 13-18 record.

Most versatile: Liberty High sophomore Hadley Miller. Like her teammate Hildebrand Miller has shown a unique knack for making an impact in every aspect of a match. Miller led the Lightning with 364 assists, was second on the team with 31 ace serves and ranked fourth on the team in kills (95) and digs (199).

Newcomer of the year: Clear Creek Amana sophomore Bailey Simpson. With three of its top four hitters from last season gone to graduation there were opportunities for players to step up in the Clipper lineup. Simpson more than seized that opportunity. In her first varsity season Simpson ranked second on the team with 216 kills on .242 hitting and ranked second on the team with 78 blocks.

Newcomer of the year part 2: Regina sophomore Nora Wilhelm. In the first varsity action of her career Wilhelm stepped in and ran the Regina offense effectively. Wilhelm ranked 11^th in the state in assists per set (9.6) and finished the season with 957 assists, 142 digs, 13 blocks and 15 ace serves.

Under the radar star: West Branch senior MadeLynn Falco. Back row players often go under the radar but the more Falco played the harder it became to ignore her impact. Falco ranked ninth in the state in digs per set (6.0) while collecting a career-high 459 digs to lead the Bears in digs for the third straight season.

Most reliable: Solon senior Grace Erwin. Few players could be counted on for more consistent production over the past three seasons than Erwin who led Solon in both kills and blocks this season. Erwin posted a three consecutive season with at least 185 kills and 90 blocks posting team-highs of 204 kills and 93 blocks.

Unsung hero: Regina sophomore Addison Bollier. This will likely be a one-year award for Bollier who won’t be unsung for long after a breakthrough sophomore season in which she emerged as one of state’s top liberos ranking second in the state with 683 digs and fourth in the state with 6.8 digs per set.

Most consistent: City High senior Emmy McComas. For four straight seasons McComas consistently filled the stat sheet as well as any player in the area posting a fourth straight season with at least 180 kills and 215 digs. McComas led City High in digs for the fourth straight season with 216 and added 188 kills, 14 blocks and a team-high 30 ace serves.

Freshman of the year: City High’s Hazel Schluckebier. In her first season of varsity action Schluckebier showed a knack for directing an offense handing out 572 assists and adding 60 kills. Schluckebier ranked second on the team in both blocks (29) and digs (57) and was third in ace serves (27).

Freshman of the year part 2: West High’s Audrey Small. The 6-foot-3 Small had a large impact in her first season in the West High lineup ranking third on the team with 100 kills on a team-best .289 hitting efficiency and led the Trojans with 77 blocks.

Back row player of the year: Liberty High sophomore Edie Miller. Following a strong freshman season Miller continued to cement her status as one of the top back row players in the state with an impressive sophomore campaign in which she led Class 5A in both digs (550) and digs per set (7.1). Miller also led Liberty High with 32 ace serves this season and in two seasons has 1,153 digs and 54 aces.

Most valuable player: Regina junior Reese Naeve. One of the most productive hitters in the state over the past two seasons Naeve simply took her game to another level this season while leading Regina to the state tournament for the first time since 2017. Naeve led the state in kills (753) and kills per set (7.5) while hitting .320 and had 109 kills in four postseason matches. An Iowa State commit, Naeve added 343 digs, 34 ace serves and 17 blocks.

Most valuable player part 2: Clear Creek Amana junior Averie Lower. After playing a complementary role to all-stater Bliss Beck last season Lower shined in her first season as the unquestioned go-to hitter for the Clippers. Lower hammered a team-high 410 kills on .246 hitting and led the Clippers with 334 digs while adding 32 blocks and 34 ace serves to help Clear Creek Amana to a third consecutive state tournament appearance.

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