St. Louis Tournament of Champions Players to Watch
Week three of the high school volleyball season in Missouri has some marquee match-ups on the docket in several tournaments across the state. The St. Louis Tournament of Champions – so aptly named – has some heavy hitters from Eastern…
Access all of Prep Dig
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingWeek three of the high school volleyball season in Missouri has some marquee match-ups on the docket in several tournaments across the state. The St. Louis Tournament of Champions – so aptly named – has some heavy hitters from Eastern Missouri looking to make a statement early in the 2019 campaign. Let’s take a look the players who have the potential to best help their teams set themselves apart from the rest at St. Joseph’s Academy on Saturday.
Teams in Tournament
Pool 1
Althoff Catholic (Belleville, IL)
St. Joseph’s Academy
Briarcrest (TN)
St. Pius X (Festus, MO)
Pool 2
Lafayette
St. Francis Borgia
Cor Jesu
Francis Howell
Setters
What better way to start than the quarterbacks of the court? And this tournament has some of the best in Missouri.
Molly Bange – St. Pius X
Bange is off to a fast start in 2019, quarterbacking her team to tournament wins at Windsor and North County. The senior is averaging nearly ten digs per set and giving outsides Kennedy Lane and Caly Otec plenty of options offensively. Bange will be a huge factor for Pius X in its quest for a Class 3 State Tournament appearance.
LynnAbby Lynn – Borgia
The Louisiana-Lafayette recruit ranked #4 in the prepdig.com 2020 rankings, Lynn brings with her a Borgia squad that finished third in Class 3 at the Missouri State Volleyball tournament last season. Lynn is one of just two seniors on the roster, but the Lady Knights have hardly skipped a beat so far en route to an 8-1 record this season. The 2018 Class 3 All-State selection had 708 assists in her junior campaign and hopes to lead Borgia to another state tournament appearance.
Lily Rogers – Cor Jesu
The talent on this list is undeniable and Lily Rogers makes this list even better. The makes the Cor Jesu offense multi-dimensional by spreading the ball to so many hitters, while averaging almost ten assists a set. Defensively, the senior captain has thrown in 2.1 digs per set in her career, as well. Rogers will be hungry for her team to improve upon the Class 4 State Quarterfinal appearance from 2018 and the tournament Saturday will be a good barometer to see if they can do just that.
Defensive Specialist
From the quarterbacks to the DS we go and there won’t be a lack of talent in back row at St. Joseph’s on Saturday.
Lexi Basler – Lafayette
Not much gets by Basler. The junior is averaging 5.5 digs per set for the 6-0 Lafayette. The Rockwood Thunder club player had a season-high 21 digs and three aces in a huge win against Borgia on Tuesday.
Grace Beyer – Francis Howell
Beyer is really coming into her own in her senior season, with a season-high 7 digs against Troy Buchanan. The St. Louis College of Pharmacy signee looks to make a huge impact for the Lady Vikings in her senior season as the team hopes to make its return to the Class 4 State Volleyball tournament, where it lost eventual state champion Eureka. The Tournament of Champions will be a great barometer for them.
Brooke Plessner – St. Joseph’s Academy
Brooke Plessner committed to Missouri State to play beach volleyball in July, but is pretty effective on the hard courts, as well. The senior averaged nearly five digs a set in her 2018 campaign. Saturday will be a good test for the Angels to see how they fare against Missouri competition. A tough schedule in tournaments outside of Missouri should prepare them for the Tournament of Champions.
Middles
Allison Beaton – Lafayette
Beaton – courtesy HudlThe Truman State recruit stands an opposing 6’1” and can back up the intimidation factor with her consistency. The senior is hitting .495 in this young 2019 season with 51 kills in 14 sets. Beaton hopes to help Lafayette back to the state tournament in her final year and land herself back on the Class 4 All-State Volleyball Team on the heels of 228 kills on 479 swings.
Jillian Mattingly – Cor Jesu
This senior captain poses an issue for many an offense so far in 2019. With 1.3 blocks per set, her presence is definitely felt on defense, but the swing hasn’t been too shabby either, hitting a staggering .653 so far this season. The St. Louis University commit had 12 kills in a season-opening statement win against Eureka.
Outsides
Ella Brinkmann – Borgia
This list wouldn’t be complete without Ella Brinkmann. The sophomore dynamo was the lone freshman selection forthe Class 3 All-State team and hopes to have an even better 2019. In 2018, she led Borgia’s attack with 4 kills a game. She’s hitting .367 so far in 2019.
Emily Henken – Cor Jesu
Henken – courtesy HudlAnother St. Louis University recruit, Henken is off to a great start in 2019, hitting .311 in the young season. In 2018, Henken averaged 3 kills a set for the 2018 Class 4 State Quarterfinalists. The Chargers bowed out to Lafayette at state in 2018, but have has a chance to avenge that loss right away on Saturday as the two teams square off in the first game of the day in pool play.
Caly Otec & Kennedy Lane – Pius X
The duo are so good together it was tough to choose one over the other. Though Otec’s sister Jena is doing well at Purdue, Caly is making a name of her own in her junior and senior seasons at Pius. This season, the outside is averaging 4.1 kills per set and has been named to the all-tournament team at Windsor. She was on a different plane in the North County tournament in week two, with 73 kills, 45 digs and 12 aces for Pius in a tournament that included a win against perennial power Lutheran South.
While the list so far has been pretty senior-heavy, Kennedy Lane is making a huge splash in her sophomore campaign, hitting .289 and averaging 4.5 kills per set. Lane was also named to Windsor Tournament and hopes to make as big an impact in 2019 as she did in her 2018 Class 3 All-State Season.