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By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
NIXA — Sydney Golden added to her record-setting assist total, Jaycee Fixsen inched closer to the school kill record and the Nixa volleyball team finished an unbeaten run through the Central Ozark Conference with a 3-0 sweep of Carl Junction on Tuesday at Eagle Fieldhouse.
The Eagles honored the all-state players prior to the match, presenting each with an award commemorating individual milestones they reached earlier in the month. The duo then led Nixa to a 25-21, 25-21, 25-17 victory that secured an outright conference title for the Eagles, who concluded conference play with a perfect 9-0 record and did not lose a single set in the process.
“It made me very happy to be able to recognize their achievements,” Nixa coach Annie Zimmerman said. “To be able to recognize them for all the hard work they put in — not just for us during our season, but all of the extra time they spend outside of volleyball they devote to getting better whether it’s lifting, conditioning or training — they definitely deserve that honor.”
Golden was honored after she appeared to break the state’s all-time career assist record during the Ozark Grand Slam Invitational on Saturday. The senior entered Tuesday’s match with 3,724 — two above the total Carley Nicholson recorded at St. Pius X (Festus) between 2014 and 2017.
The Missouri State High School Activities Association does not update their online record books in the middle of the season, so the Eagles have no way to determine if anyone else has caught Nicholson this year. But no other player was anywhere close to that mark at the start of the season, so they are confident Golden will conclude her career as the state’s all-time leader.
Golden already held the state record for assists in a season with 1,163, which she set last year, and also has the three highest single-game assist totals in state history with 62, 57 and 56. The senior added 30 assists against Carl Junction and now has 3,754 in her time at Nixa.
Fixsen was honored for her 1,000th career kill, which she recorded during an October 5 match against Branson. The senior added eight more Tuesday, giving her 1,139 in her career and placing her 29 behind the school record held by Missouri State standout Aubrey Cheffey.
Put the state’s all-time assist leaders with one of the state’s top hitting talents and there’s no surprise that things have gone exceedingly well for the Eagles over the past three years.
Nixa enters postseason play with a 28-4 record and will be searching for a third consecutive trip to the state championship game. They won it all in 2019 and finished second last year.
“Those two have played together for several years,” Zimmerman said. “They have a way of playing together on the court that is special among two players that you don’t get all the time, just because they have spent so much time together. Each one compliments the other and that’s why we’ve been able to have so much success.”
Fixsen will also play at Missouri State next year, while Golden will compete for Northern Iowa. Before becoming college conference rivals, they’re excited for this high school conference title.
“It definitely means a lot,” Golden said. “We haven’t been able to do that for the last three years. We’ve always had co-conference champions. It means a lot to be able to come out and win it straight. I think that’ll be good for us going into districts.”
Nixa’s junior varsity and freshmen teams also swept their COC schedules, giving the Eagles hope that they’ll continue to excel after Fixsen, Golden and other seniors graduate this spring.
“It’s a great moment,” Fixsen said. “Coming into this game, we wanted to be the team that everyone wants to beat and everyone wants to compete with. I think that having all of our freshmen, JV and varsity winning our conference really helps with that.”
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The perfect run illustrated how the Eagles have been able to be consistently good night in and night out against some of the toughest competition in the state. Willard won the Class 4 state championship last year, while Carl Junction junior Logan Jones will play at Arkansas.
“We know with the talent that is within our conference and the teams that we have to play in our conference schedule, it’s something to be really proud of to be able to accomplish that,” Zimmerman said. “We play good teams and that is consistent from year to year. A COC championship is definitely one of the goals that we set for ourselves at the beginning of the season.”
The next goal is a third straight district title.
The Eagles are the top seed in the Class 5 District 11 playoffs, which will be held at Kickapoo. The Eagles will play at 3 p.m. Saturday against Branson or Ozark, who face off on Thursday.
The winner advances to the championship game on Tuesday against Kickapoo or Republic. Nixa has beaten every other team in the bracket at least once, with two wins over Kickapoo.
“Districts are a whole different ball game,” Zimmerman said. “Anything can happen. Teams always come in fired up and ready to play and win. Teams want to knock those top seeds off. We have to come in and really work hard to be able to get out of that district. It’s obviously one of the toughest in the state, so we know there’s a lot of work ahead.”
