Part 3: Players Primed for Breakout Seasons in 2019
For the most part, it’s officially summer. The calendar is about to turn to June, and with that comes a bevy of summer camps, high school conditioning and open gyms. While there is technically a few weeks left on the…
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Continue ReadingFor the most part, it’s officially summer. The calendar is about to turn to June, and with that comes a bevy of summer camps, high school conditioning and open gyms. While there is technically a few weeks left on the club season, it’s never too early to jump into the high school season!
So, with that in mind, here’s the third of a multiple-part look at players primed to go from good to great or great to super stars during the 2019 high school season. The players’ grades are listed as what they will be in the 2019-20 high school season.
Paige Fixemer, 6’2, Sr., MH, Millard South (committed to Army)
After taking a big step forward in her development last year, Fixemer very well could establish herself as the most dominant middle in Class A this fall. A starter since her freshman year for the Patriots, Fixemer’s game has gotten better with each successive season, culminating in a 300-kill season in 2018 in which she hit .259 after having hit .138 in each of her first two years.
Fixemer is a strong, physical presence in the middle, capable of matching up against anyone across the net from her. However, what really separates her is the fact that she has also made tremendous strides in the little aspects of her game that many middles neglect. She turned herself into a strong server, send it over at a 94% clip with 18 aces to just 20 errors. She’s also above average in the back row, which is rare for a middle, and she had 107 digs a year ago.
Kealy Kiviniemi, 6’0, Soph., MH, Bellevue West
Don’t sleep on Bellevue West this fall as the T-Birds will have one of its strongest teams in years and Kiviniemi is a big reason why. As a freshman last fall, Kiviniemi led Bellevue West in kills with 228 while hitting – ironically – .228. She brings above average athleticism to the net for the T-Birds and at the next level she could even be turned into a pin hitter.
She several standout performances in 2018, putting up eight double-digit kill matches and in the T-Birds district final game against Omaha Marian – where Bellevue West fell in five sets – she had 12 kills while hitting .248 with an ace and four solo blocks. Expect big things from Kiviniemi and Bellevue West this fall.
Chloe Cloud, 6’1, Soph., MH, Grand Island Central Catholic
While a lot of the players we’ve talked about in this series got plenty of playing time last year and are looking to build on that, Cloud did not see a lot of the court in 2018, but she could potentially become an all-conference performer as a sophomore, which is saying something in the Centennial Conference. Cloud appeared in 11 matches for Grand Island CC last season and in 14 total sets, but believe me when I say she’s going to make her mark in 2019.
In her limited time last year, she had 10 kills on 27 swings with just one error for a hitting percentage of .333. Her athleticism is so easy it’s scary to watch. Replacing Megan Woods and Kamryn Willman certainly won’t be easy for the Crusaders, but Cloud is poised to go from a little-used freshman to a dominant sophomore.