HS Dream Team of the Week: Bower, Goodenow, Diersbock, DeLete, Sparks, Risdon, Jaffa, Onaga

All high school season, VolleyballMag.com recognizes a Dream Team of players who were standouts the weekend before. Most weeks, the eight-girl Dream Team will consist of the following:

Setter
Setter, S/RS or RS
OH
OH
MB
MB
Libero
DS

This week, because no defensive specialists were nominated, we added third outside hitter.

Players will be considered for Dream Team ONLY if they are nominated by their high school coaches using this link: https://volleyballmag.com/hs-player-of-the-week-submissions/.

Nominations will be solicited by email to high school coaches only on our email list. To sign up, follow this link: https://volleyballmag.com/hs-email-sign-up/

Note to coaches and directors: while there is no science to how we choose members of our Dream Team, performing on bigger stages will give players an edge, as will nomination forms that describe with specificity how well a player performed the previous week.

HIGH SCHOOL DREAM TEAM for November 2, 2022
S: Alex Bower, 5-10 Jr., Skyview (Nampa, Idaho) – Bower had 51 assists, 14 digs and six kills in the championship match as Skyview captured its third straight Idaho state title. The junior, who has committed to BYU, dished with equal effectiveness to the duo of junior Alex Acevedo and freshman Bellamie Buess, who each had 26 kills.

RS: Betsy Goodenow, 6-0 Sr., St. Thomas Aquinas (Overland Park, Kansas) — Goodenow had 16 kills and three blocks in the championship match and led the Saints in all all tournament long as they clinched their eighth Kansas state title. The Yale recruit had 15 kills in the semis and is the team’s emotional leader and two-year captain. Coach Sarah Ikenberry said that without her, STA would not be state champions or have had a season that saw the team lose just twice in-state all year.

OH: Reese Diersbock, 6-1 Sr., Le Jardin Academy (Kailua, Hawaii) – One of the top players in the state, Diersbock played like a superstar on Saturday in leading the Bulldogs to the Hawaii Division II state title. The senior totaled 31 kills and 19 digs in a five-set win over Hawaii Baptist.

OH: Brookyln DeLeye, 6-2 Sr., Washburn Rural (Topeka, Kansas) – One of the best players in Kansas history, DeLeye led the Junior Blues to a 40-1 record and the Kansas 6A title. She had 15 kills, eight digs, two aces and a block in the two-set finals sweep and completes her career as one of only a handful of Kansans ever to have 2,000 or more career kills.

OH: Anna Grace Sparks, 5-11 Sr., McGill-Toolen (Mobile, Alabama) – Sparks was named 7A MVP as the Dirty Dozen (51-8) won state for the first time since 2018. Sparks finished with 14 kills, 12 digs and three aces in the championship match.

MB: Piper Risdon, 6-1 Jr., Lowell (Michigan) – Risdon had 25 kills on 41 swings against just four errors in two matches last week. She was virtually unstoppable in the Red Arrows’ sweep of Northview, hitting an impressive .810 with 17 kills.

MB: Alyvia Jaffa, 6-3 Jr., Morgan (Utah) – Jaffa had 18 kills, nine blocks, seven digs and an ace as the Trojans, hard-luck losers in finals the past three years, bested Richfield in four for the Utah 3A crown.

Libero: Tess Onaga, 5-2 Sr., Iolani (Honolulu, Hawaii) – Onaga played up to her reputation as the best defender on the Islands last week. She contributed a staggering 34 digs over just three sets to help the Raiders capture the Hawaii Division I title.

Also considered (by position, in order of consideration):
S: Kendall Phelan, 5-8 Sr., Fayetteville (Arkansas) — A Florida State recruit, Phelan, a four-year starter, was phenomenal in her final match in a Bulldog uniform. She put up 37 assists, 18 digs and seven kills as Fayetteville swept past Southside to win its third consecutive 6A title.

S: Kinley Kerbs, 5-7 Sr., Madison (Rexburg, Idaho) – Kerbs had 165 assists, 15 aces and six blocks to help Madison win the 5A Idaho title for the first time since 2018. The Bobcats (35-4), who did not lose to an in-state team, swept Skyline to complete the four-match tourney run.

S: Larsen Terrill, 5-11 Soph., Highland (Marengo, Ohio) – Terrill had 52 assists, 14 digs and seven kills as the Scots escaped Bloom Carroll, 16-14 in the fifth, to claim their sixth Division 2 District championship over the past 10 years.

S: Rylie Lattig, 5-7 Sr., Escalon (California) – Lattig was very deceptive in playoff wins last week over Pioneer and Nevada Union. The senior finished with 54 assists, 27 digs and three kills in the two sweeps.

***

RS: Autumn Bax, 6-1 Jr., Blair Oaks (Jefferson City, Missouri) – Bax had 71 kills (hitting .345), 10 blocks and 44 digs over four matches last week to lead the Falcons in the Missouri Class 3 playoffs. In one match against Lutheran St. Charles, the junior, who has more than 1,000 career kills, terminated 20 times and held her opponent’s high-producing outside to just three kills. Blair Oaks is headed back to the Missouri Final Four in Class 3 for the second straight year.

***

OH: Abigail Lagemann, 5-11 Sr., Benton (Arkansas) – Lagemann had 17 kills and 16 digs to help the Panthers sweep Valley View for the Arkansas 5A title. Valley View had been bidding for its eighth straight title. The title for Benton was its first in over a decade.

OH: Brooke Rockwell, 5-10 Sr., Fayetteville (Arkansas) – Rockwell, a Stanford Beach Volleyball recruit, put up 17 kills and 13 digs as the Bulldogs swept Southside to capture their third straight Arkansas 6A title. Her final kill was the state title clincher and capped a three-match state run in which she recorded 48 kills (5.3 per set).

OH: Marisa Nakata, 5-6 Soph., Hawaii Baptist (Honolulu, Hawaii) – The Eagles came up just a few points short in the Hawaii Division II championship match, but not because of Nakata. The sophomore contributed 30 kills and 16 digs in the championship match one day after amassing 36 kills in the semifinals.

OH: Carly O’Brien, 5-10 Jr., Dorman (Roebuck, South Carolina) – O’Brien had 17 kills and seven digs as the Cavaliers upset Nation Ford in three sets last Thursday to advance to the 5A Upperstate finals.

OH: Claire Hildebrand, 5-7 Sr., Sandburg (Orland Park, Illinois) – Hildebrand had 13 kills, 16 digs and three aces to power the Eagles past Lincoln Way Central for a regional title. Sandburg had twice before lost to LWC. Hildebrand’s heroics continued into sectional play, where Sandburg upended much taller Lincoln Way East in a semifinal. Hildebrand had 10 kills and 10 digs in the contest.

OH: Jalynn Brown, 6-0 Sr. OH, New Smyrna Beach (Florida) – Brown, a South Florida recruit, had 23 kills and 10 digs to lead New Smyrna Beach to an upset in five over Ponte Vedra in the 6A region finals.

***

MB: Lizzy Gruber, 6-4 Sr., Gardiner (Maine) – Gruber had 12 kills and four blocks for Gardiner, which reached the Class B final for the first time since instituting volleyball in 2017.

MB: Olivia Ryno, 6-0 Soph., Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville, Florida) – Ryno had 11 kills, was dominant throughout and scored the last three points for the Crusaders when they clinched a berth in the Florida 4A semifinals. One match before, Ryno had 10 kills and four blocks to help BK reach the regional finals for the 19th straight year.

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