Departing seniors lifted Panther volleyball

Senior leaders from Creston’s most successful volleyball team in a decade were honored at the team’s postseason awards banquet Wednesday night at Mario’s Sports Bar & Grill.

The Panthers finished 12-14 overall and tied Glenwood for sixth in the Hawkeye Ten Conference at 5-5. When Creston stood 10-9 on Oct. 9 after successive wins over Southwest Valley and St. Albert, it was the latest in the season a Creston volleyball team was above .500 since the 15-11 team in 2015 and the 21-7 team of 2014, both coached by Polly Luther.

Second-year coach Naomi Sharp led the team to a first-round regional win for the second straight year in a 3-0 sweep of Centerville at home. Clarinda then defeated the Panthers in the Class 3A Region 4 semifinals, 3-1.

That brought an end to the careers of seniors Kadley Bailey, Hollynn Rieck, Jaycee Hanson, Ella Turner, Braylee Pokorny, Avery Staver and Sydney Staver (injured). Sharp got involved coaching that group as middle school players in offseason AAU competition.

“These seniors hold a very special place in my heart,” Sharp said. “I’ve been coaching them since seventh grade. They are a great group. I’m anxious to see all that they do in the future.”

By finishing in the middle of the Hawkeye Ten standings, Sharp felt the team came up short of due recognition in the all-conference selections. Hanson and Bailey received honorable mention.

“I had high hopes of four players seeing their names on that list, and that’s not what happened,” Sharp said. “I was pretty emotional about it afterward. We deserved better recognition than that, in my opinion.”

In statistics for conference matches only, Bailey finished first in serving percentage (97.7%), fifth in assists, 34th in kills and 21st in digs. Hanson ended sixth in kills and 10th in digs.

Also, libero Avery Staver was second overall in the conference in digs.

There were several career milestones reached by Panther seniors this season. Hanson and Rieck both surpassed 500 career digs, and Hanson also reached 500 career kills. She was the team leader with 234 kills.

Bailey surpassed 1,000 career assists and Avery Staver accumulated 1,000 digs during her career at East Union and Creston.

As a team, Creston received the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s Distinguished Academic Achievement Award. In team-voted awards, Bailey was named the varsity most valuable player. Hanson, Hope Henderson and Avery Staver tied for the hardest worker award and most improved honors went to Nora Barton and Pokorny.

Assistants Blair Glendenning and Trish Dickinson also presented awards to the junior varsity and freshman teams, respectively.

AWARDS

Letterwinners (letters earned)

Seniors — Kadley Bailey (4), Hollynn Rieck (4), Jaycee Hanson (4), Ella Turner (3), Braylee Pokorny (3), Avery Staver (2).

Juniors — Nora Barton (1), Hope Henderson (2), Kennedy Strider (2).

Sophomores — Jensan Tussey (2), Marlee Stalker (1), Ricci Johnston (1), Rohwyn Randall (1).

Participation awards — Juniors: Alainah Galanakis, Taylor Rohrig, Kinzley Downing. Sophomores: Nevaeh Pena, Joslyn Martwick, Brooke Huck. Freshmen: Aubrey Kramer, Camille Brown, Bentleigh Collier, Londynn Means, Chloe Thomson, McKenna Tonelli, Daphne Hoepker, Nevaeh Adamson, Makinzie Forkner, Eva Chesnut, Payton Veitz, Elle Johnson, Ali Gordy, Alexis Flores, Alaina Liesner.

Hawkeye Ten all-conference — Jaycee Hanson, honorable mention; Kadley Bailey, honorable mention.

Hawkeye Ten All-Academic — Kadley Bailey, Hollynn Rieck, Jaycee Hanson, Ella Turner, Braylee Pokorny, Avery Staver, Sydney Staver.

Team Awards

Varsity most improved — Nora Barton and Braylee Pokorny.

Varsity hardest worker — Jaycee Hanson, Hope Henderson, Avery Staver.

Varsity MVP — Kadley Bailey.

JV most improved — Nevaeh Pena.

JV hardest worker — Jensan Tussey.

JV MVP — Marlee Stalker.

Freshman most improved — Camille Brown.

Freshman hardest worker — Payton Veitz, Eva Chesnut.

Freshman MVP — Bentleigh Collier.

Statistical leaders

Setting assists — Kadley Bailey 601, Avery Staver 44, Hollynn Rieck 30.

Kills — Jaycee Hanson 234, Hollynn Rieck 170, Braylee Pokorny 116, Hope Henderson 86, Kadley Bailey 84, Ella Turner 83.

Blocks — Braylee Pokorny 39, Hope Henderson 20, Kadley Bailey 15, Ella Turner 12.

Digs — Avery Staver 363, Hollynn Rieck 303, Jaycee Hanson 252, Kadley Bailey 184, Ella Turner 90, Nora Barton 89.

Serving percentage (minimum 100) — Nora Barton 181-190 (95.3%), Kadley Bailey 301-318 (94.7%), Hollynn Rieck 259-279 (92.8%), Jaycee Hanson 185-200 (92.5%).

Service aces — Avery Staver 26, Kadley Bailey 21, Nora Barton 12, Hope Henderson 11, Jaycee Hanson 11, Hollynn Rieck 11.