By Chris Parker
There are many talented volleyball players across our coverage area. Below are some of the volleyball players to watch this season.
NOTE: The athletes are listed in alphabetical order.
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Reagan Baade, Ozark Junior
Baade is poised to be one of the area’s breakout hitters this year after earning second-team all-conference honors as a sophomore. She put down 200 kills with 17 blocks, 17 assists and 25 aces. While she is a strong hitter, her defense makes her a true six-rotation force. She had 302 digs as a sophomore.
Gibby Beckler, Conway Senior
Beckler helped lead Conway to a district title last year posting 459 kills on a .323 hitting percentage. When she wasn’t killing the ball, she was setting her teammates up with 382 assists on the season. She is now a two-time all-state honoree.
Destiny Buerge, Carl Junction Senior
Buerge earned second-team all-conference honors last year on the strength of 319 kills, 26 aces and 283 digs. Her numbers should continue to grow this year with one of the state’s best setters returning for Carl Junction in Logan Jones. Buerge is also one of the area’s best basketball players.
Coco Buschhorn, Central
Buschhorn earned first-team all-conference honors last year after she led Central in assists with 588. She also had 166 digs. She will continue to set this year, but will use her athleticism to contribute more on the attack as well.
Abby Chadwell, Strafford Senior
Strafford graduated strong hitters from last year’s state runner-up team, but Chadwell returns to provide consistency to the offense at setter. She earned Class 2 All-State honors last year on the strength of her 1,120 assists. That number ranks No. 3 all-time for a single season in Missouri history. Chadwell enters the season with 2,064 assists in her career, which makes reaching the state’s top five for career assists a real possibility.
Emma Conrad, Nixa Senior
Nixa will have a new look this year after graduating talented senior group. Emma Conrad will be a player who will step up her production this year after earning second-team all-conference honors as a junior. She had 419 digs with 92 assists and 21 aces as libero last year.
Callie Cornelison, Conway Senior
Cornelison provided Conway with strong defense at the libero position last year. She had team-highs in both digs (578) and serve receptions (543). Her efforts earned her Class 3 All-State honors for the district champion Bears.
Sophia Crane, Webb City Junior
Crane is one of the area’s top defensive players. She earned Class 4 All-State honors as a libero last year. Her 390 digs and 525 serve receptions led the Lady Cardinals in 2021.
Bre Daniels, Liberty Senior
Liberty always seems to be in the mix come postseason play and players like Daniels are a big reason why. The returning first-team all-conference selection is a versatile weapon who had 284 kills, 83 blocks, 232 digs, 23 assists and 30 aces last year.
Grace Edge, Skyline Senior
Edge is poised for a huge senior season. The Class 2 All-State honoree didn’t play as a freshman, but has into a force at the net the past two years. She had a team-high 72 blocks for Skyline last year. She was second on the team in kills with 253 and third in digs with 682.
Bella Faria, Kickapoo Junior
Faria does a little bit of everything for the Kickapoo volleyball program. As a sophomore, Faira led the team in kills (295), aces (42), digs (276) and receptions (404). She earned Class 5 all-state honors as a result of her efforts. Faria has committed to play collegiately for Arizona State.
Rilynn Finley, Republic Junior
Finley is the only player on this list who didn’t earn all-conference honors last year, but don’t expect that to be the case in her junior year. Finley was third on Republic’s team with 218 kills in 2021. She has shown marked improvement in an off-season that saw her verbally commit the Missouri State.
Kameron Green, Fair Grove Senior
Fair Grove is poised to contend for conference and district titles this year, and senior Kameron Green is a big reason why. Last year, Green earned Class 3 All-State honors on the strength of her team-leading 320 kills.
Reagan Hoerning, Mountain Grove Senior
Mountain Grove won 20 matches last year, and is looking for much more this year with Class 3 All-State senior Reagan Hoerning returning. Hoerning was one of the area’s most prolific hitters last year with 488 kills. She also had 256 digs and 72 aces.
Logan Jones, Carl Junction Senior
Jones, a University of Arkansas commit, is the area’s top returning setter. Last year, Jones handed out 1,003 assists with 61 aces, 132 kills, 30 blocks and 231 digs on her way to Class 4 All-State honors. She already holds all of Carl Junction’s setting records with 2,733 career assists. That number is good for No. 10 all-time in Missouri history. The record is 3,920 set by Nixa’s Sydney Golden last year. Jones is also within striking distance of the all-time Missouri record for sets played. She has played in 276 sets. Last year, Jones saw action in 98 sets. Another season with 98 sets would put Jones at 374 played sets in her career, which would be second place all-time, four behind Golden’s record of 378.
Summer Kenney, Stockton Senior
Kenney is on pace to go down as one of the most prolific hitters in MSHSAA history. She posted a 512-kill season last year to bring her career total to 1,098 kills. That number is already good enough for 24th on the all-time list. Another 500-kill season would move her into the top five all-time. Her season last year was the No. 9 mark all-time for kills in a season.
Tatum Kuntz, Glendale Junior
Glendale took a big step forward as a team last year, and Kuntz’s defense was a big reason why. Kuntz led Glendale in both digs (612) and receptions (509) from her libero spot last year. She was named first-team all-conference.
Shayla Lynn, Skyline Senior
Lynn saw a huge jump in her playing time as a junior, and she thrived for a Lady Tigers team that finished fourth in Class 2. The Class 2 All-State selection had a team-high 718 digs last year. She finished third in receptions (290) and fourth in kills (165).
Kailey Manes, Republic Senior
Manes led a balanced Republic attack as a junior with a team-high 262 kills and 35 aces. Her court awareness and ability to place her hits set her apart on the attack. She was named second-team all-conference honors last year.
Macie Mays, El Dorado Springs Senior
Mays didn’t earn all-state honors last year, but she probably should have. The senior was dynamic for the 33-win Bulldogs last year with 245 kills, 41 aces, 29 solo blocks, 238 digs and 457 receptions. The blocks and receptions led the team. El Dorado Springs graduated 667 kills from last year’s team, so expect Mays to increase her hitting numbers in a big way this year.
Grace O’Reilly, Catholic Senior
Catholic graduated a ton of firepower from last year’s team, but don’t expect the Lady Irish to take a step back with O’Reilly returning. The Class 3 All-State hitter had 363 kills last year to lead Catholic. The Class 3 high jump state champion is committed to play collegiately at Long Beach State.
Addy Rebmann, Lebanon Sophomore
Rebmann burst onto the varsity scene as a freshman and made her presence immediately felt. She earned first-team all-conference honors on the strength of her 410-kill season. Expect that number to grow this year with more experience and opportunity. Lebanon graduated its next four-leading hitters in terms of kills.
Cora Roweton, Bolivar Senior
Roweton, a second-team all-conference honoree last year, has steadily improved her numbers over each of her first three high school seasons. Last year, she led Bolivar with 265 kills bringing her to 679 kills for her career. She is also one of the area’s best at the net. Roweton led Bolivar with 98 solo blocks and has 216 solo blocks for her career.
Kyah Sanborn, Webb City Senior
Sanborn will orchestrate the Webb City offense once again after earning second-team all-conference honors as a setter with 863 assists. She already holds the Webb City school record for assists and will only build on it this year. The senior also contributed 222 digs last season.
Angie Smith, Houston Junior
Smith helped lead Houston to a 26-win campaign last year putting down a team-high 306 kills. When she wasn’t scoring at the net, she was terrorizing opposing defenses with her serve on the way to 64 aces. She earned first-team all-conference honors.
Mackenzie Smith, Hillcrest Senior
Smith is one of the top returning hitters in the Ozark Conference coming off a season where she had 398 kills. She is also a terror when serving as evidenced by her team-high 52 aces last year. She earned first-team all-conference honors.
Mollie Thomas, Marshfield Junior
Thomas earned Class 4 All-State honors as a sophomore leading Marshfield with 388 kills. That number was a jump of 146 kills from her freshman year. She also had the rare distinction of leading Marshfield in assists with 415. The junior recently committed to Florida Gulf Coast University to play for their beach volleyball program.
Lauren Tyler, Logan-Rogersville Senior
Rogersville made a run all the way to the state championship game last year. Tyler was at the center of much of it on the way to Class 4 All-State honors. She runs the offense at setter contributing 979 assists, 149 kills, 284 digs, 75 blocks and 41 aces last year.
