By Kevin Askeland
MaxPreps.com
The secret is out, Lauren Cook is the top volleyball player in the country.
Leader of three-time Nebraska state champion Pius X and owner of a number of state assist records, Cook has been selected as the MaxPreps National Player of the Year and is a member of the MaxPreps All-American Team presented by Secret.
Cook is honored along with La Costa Canyon coach Pat McDougall, who led the Mavericks to the No. 1 ranking in the country and the school’s first California Division 1 state championship.
McDougall’s team won the Durango Fall Classic in Nevada early in the season to establish itself as the nation’s best. Among the powerhouse teams La Costa Canyon beat during the season included Archbishop Mitty (No. 2 national ranking), Santa Margarita (No. 8), Wilson of Long Beach (No. 9), Assumption (No. 16), Mira Costa (No. 18), Santa Barbara (No. 19), and Cathedral of San Diego (No. 20).
The Mavericks posted a 37-1 overall record and dropped just 12 games on the season while winning 105.
NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Lauren Cook, Pius X (Lincoln, Neb.), Setter, 5-8, Senior
There isn’t much that Pius X setter Lauren Cook hasn’t accomplished during her storied career at the Lincoln, Neb., school. The MaxPreps national player of the year helped lead the Thunderbolts to three straight Class B championships. As a sophomore, she set the state record for assists with 1,259. As a junior, she broke the record with 1,341. This year, she became the state’s all-time leader in assist with an unofficial 4,399 that includes 1,027 this year. Cook was the national junior player of the year by Prepvolleyball.com last season and she was also the Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year. Although her father is Nebraska head volleyball coach John Cook, Lauren will play at UCLA next season.
MAXPREPS ALL-AMERICAN TEAM – Presented by Secret
Darcy Dorton, Delta (Muncie, Ind.), Outside Hitter, 6-2, Senior
Considered the No. 2 senior in the country by Prepvolleyball.com, Dorton led Delta to a 33-6 overall record and an Indiana 3A state title. The senior hitter finished the season with 601 kills and had a 51.7 kill percentage. She also showed her versatility by coming up with 448 digs. A first team 3A all-state selection in Indiana, Dorton was also a member of the AVCA All-American team. Dorton has committed to play at Penn State next season.
Hannah Werth, Glenwood (Chatham, Ill.), Outside Hitter, 6-1, Senior
Werth was recently crowned the state player of the year in Illinois after recording a state record for career kills with 2,022 in four years at Glenwood High School. Committed to Nebraska, Werth was the MVP of the 2008 AAU national championships and had 606 kills during her senior year. A member of a very athletic family, her grandfather, Dick Schofield, played major league baseball for 19 years and her brother, Jayson Werth, recently won a World Series with the Philadelphia Phillies. Her father and uncle also played major league baseball. Besides posting the sixth-best total for kills in a season, Werth also had 252 assists and helped Glenwood to a 28-9 record. Werth was also honored on the AVCA All-American team.
Bailey Webster, St. Pauls’ School for Girls (Brooklandville, Md.), Outside Hitter, 6-3, Senior
Webster entered the season ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the country by Prepvolleyball.com. She did nothing to hurt that ranking as he had a 66.6 kill percentage and finished the year with 487 kills for an average of 7.2 per game. Webster led St. Paul’s to 17 straight wins to start the season, but the team lost in the playoffs to Bryn Mawr and finished 18-2 overall. Webster was the Gatorade state player of the year in Maryland as a junior and she is headed to Texas next year. Webster also earned AVCA All-American honors.
Katherine Harms, St. Michael Albertville (Albertville, Minn.), Opposite, 6-1, Senior
Harms led St. Michael-Albertville to a third-place finish in the Minnesota 3A state playoffs and was named to the all-tournament team. She was also first team all-state and was a member of the AVCA All-American team. Harms had 541 kills on the season and had a 47.9 kill percentage. The 6-1 senior is staying right at home next year as she will attend the University of Minnesota.
Whitney Billings, Pelham (Ala.), Opposite, 6-2, Senior
Billings has been a national player of the year finalist as a freshman and a sophomore and certainly ranks as one of the top seniors in 2008. She is a three-time all-state honoree in Alabama and led her team to the No. 1 ranking in the Alabama 6A division. The Panthers fell in the state finals to Bob Jones, but finished the season with a 51-4 record. Billings, who recently committed to play at Kentucky next year, led the team with 586 kills.
Katie Fuller, La Costa Canyon (Encinitas, Calif.), Opposite, 6-2, Senior
Fuller helped lead La Costa Canyon to a California Division 1 state title and the No. 1 ranking in the country this season. Fuller, who will play at USC next season, had 345 kills heading into the playoffs. The Mavericks had little trouble in the postseason, dropping just two games in four matches and sweeping Homestead in the state finals. Fuller had 13 kills in the championship game for La Costa Canyon.
Torri Campbell, Amarillo (Texas), Middle Blocker, 6-2, Senior
Campbell was a force for the three-time Texas 5A state champion Amarillo Sandies as she had 550 kills on the season and added 92 blocks. Campbell, who will play in-state at Baylor next year, had a 57.7 kill percentage and was named to the Texas 5A all-state team. Also a member of the AVCA All-American team, Campbell was the district MVP for the Sandies.
Christiana Gray, Cathedral (Indianapolis, Ind.), Middle Blocker, 6-5, Senior
Gray, a 6-5 middle blocker, led Cathedral to an Indiana 5A state championship and also posted 416 kills and an impressive 191 total blocks on the season for the Fighting Irish, who finished 37-2 on the season. Gray, who was the Indiana state player of the year by the Indianapolis Star, is headed to Duke next season. An AVCA All-American, Gray and the Fighting Irish finished fourth in the MaxPreps national rankings.
Caitlyn Donahue, Blue Valley West (Overland Park, Kansas), Libero, 5-7, Senior
Donahue does a little bit of everything for Blue Valley West, which finished second in the Kansas 6A state playoffs. Besides getting 389 kills on the season, Donahue also had 89 aces, and 340 digs while playing outside hitter, libero and defensive specialist for the Jaguars. She was named the player of the year in Kansas and was also an AVCA All-American. She will play at Kansas State next season.
Morgan O’Neill, Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.), Libero, 5-9, Senior
O’Neill sacrificed the glory of playing outside hitter this season by moving to libero. Her defensive play all season long, and in the state finals, helped the Monarchs win their seventh state championship and finish the year 42-1 with a No. 2 national ranking by MaxPreps. O’Neill led the team with 274 digs on the season including 20 in the championship game. O’Neill will play at Virginia Tech next season.
Elly Barrett, Westlake (Austin, Texas), Setter, 6-0, Senior
Barrett helped her team to a second-place finish in the Texas 5A playoffs and was named the state player of the year by the volleyball coaches association. She has led her team to the state finals each of her final three seasons and earned All-American honors as a junior and a senior. One of the most coveted setters in the country, Barrett had an amazing 1,159 assists and also had 286 digs. She will play at California next year.
