ESPNHS Volleyball

By Walter Villa



Lydia Dimke -- and other players like her -- may be the future of girls’ volleyball.

Traditionally, tall girls such as the 6-foot-2 Dimke would be made into middle blockers as early as middle school.

But Dimke, a sophomore at Blaine (Minn.), has a different dream.

“I want to be a setter in college,” Dimke said.

And the dream is very realistic because of the evolution of the sport. Tall players with good hands are now being trained as setters from an early age. What they may lack in quickness compared to a smaller player, they make up for in longer strides and the ability to cover more territory.

At the moment, Dimke is a part-time setter. She spends three front-row rotations as a hitter and three back-row rotations setting.

“I enjoy doing both -- it’s a great opportunity,” Dimke said. “I wouldn’t mind doing both in college. But if I had my preference, I’d like to be a setter.”

Walt Weaver, who coached Dimke to a national title with the Northern Lights 15s club team last season, said major colleges are lining up to earn her commitment.

Dimke, who wants to study medicine, said it’s too early for her to settle on a college. For now, her focus is on repeating as a national champion, this time with the Northern Lights 16s team.

A growing trend

Of the four full-time setters who made first-, second- and third-team All-America last season in NCAA Division I, none is taller than 6-0.

The list includes 5-11 Kendall Bateman of Southern Cal and 6-0 Alison Landwehr of Iowa State on the first team, 5-8 Bre Payton of Northern Iowa (second team) and 5-9 Brianne Barker of Oklahoma (third team). There is also 6-2 Kelly Murphy of Florida, who made the first team as a setter/hitter.

Compare those heights to the setters and setters/hitters who made the 2011 ESPNHS All-America first team, and you can see that size is trending up. The ESPNHS team featured 6-2 Andie Malloy of Lovejoy (Lucas, Texas), 6-2 Megan Courtney of Archbishop Alter (Kettering, Ohio), 6-1 Katy Beals of Lake Travis (Austin, Texas), 6-1 Madison Bugg of Cardinal Gibbons (Raleigh, N.C.) and 5-10 Katie George of Assumption (Louisville, Ky.).

If you are counting, the top five college setters or setters/hitters are a combined 10 inches shorter than their five prep counterparts.

Logan Barber, who coached Bugg in high school, is convinced his former star will be a setter at Stanford. It’s the position where she can reach her full potential, Barber said.

Barber also said he thought the trend of taller setters began a few years ago.

“It started in college and has trickled down to high school and club,” he said. “Teams want to have more consistency on offense by using just one setter instead of having to change setters when she rotates to the front row.

“If you have a taller setter, she can stay in and be an effective blocker on the front row.”

Barber said 6-0 is the “benchmark” top college programs are looking for in terms of height for a setter.

“But if you are 5-10 or 5-11 and can jump, they won’t have a problem,” he said. “Colleges have to be wary about taking a tall player and trying to convert her to a setter. That’s hard to make happen late in the game.

“The primary thing is that she’s a good setter. If she’s an accomplished setter and happens to be taller, that gives her a bonus. Her phone will be ringing quickly (from college recruiters) in that case.”

The ideal setter

Cookie Stevens, an assistant coach who helped the Southern Cal Trojans make the 2011 Final Four; said the ideal setter is 6-0 or taller and left-handed. She also has to be quick, especially if you don’t have a precise passing team and she has to chase passes frequently.

“The advantage of having a tall setter and preferably left-handed is that they can hit the second ball over, and the blockers have to see if she is going to hit or if she is going to set,” Stevens said. “The blockers have to decide if they go up with her or with the hitter.”

Ryan Mitchell, who coached Malloy at Lovejoy, said coaches are getting smarter in how they are selecting players.

“It used to be that your smaller, athletic kid was your setter,” he said. “But now we’re taking big kids with athletic ability and training them to set.

“It’s just the evolution of the game when outside hitters in college are touching 10-4 or 10-6. If you have a 5-9 setter, you are going to lose that battle. So you have two options: Run a 6-2 with a setter in the back or get bigger setters.”

By ESPNHS

From personal triumphs to dominant dynasties, high school girls’ volleyball had plenty to celebrate in 2011. We look back on some of the year’s top stories before ringing in 2012:

Champions back for seconds
Led by juniors Amber Rolfzen, Kadie Rolfzen and Kelly Hunter, all University of Nebraska commits, Papillion-La Vista South (Papillion, Neb.) won back-to-back national championships and stretched its winning streak to 82 games, including a five-set, come-from-behind thriller against No. 4 St. James (Lenexa, Kan.) on the road in early October. And it might not be time quite yet to close the book on the Heartland dynasty. “We want a three-peat,” Hunter says of 2012.

Dressed for success
Donning a helmet and pads to help prevent a recurrence of blood clots that formed after she had her tonsils removed, senior Katie George helped Assumption (Louisville, Ky.) win the Durango Fall Classic title in Las Vegas. The Louisville commit went on to lead Assumption to the Asics Challenge championship and, no longer needing her protective gear, the Kentucky state championship. She was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year in Kentucky, while Assumption (43-1) finished third in the final POWERADE FAB 50 national rankings for 2011.

Honoring a fallen teammate
Playing in honor of teammate Caroline Found, Iowa City West repeated as state champions with a dramatic five-set win over cross-city rival Iowa City. Found, a setter who would have been a senior this year, died after a moped accident on Aug. 11."Everybody who didn’t have a friend knew her," coach Kathy Bresnahan said. "She embraced everyone."

Big season in Texas
With a perfect 50-0 record, Lake Travis (Austin, Texas) becomes the first undefeated state champion in Texas since 2004. The Cavaliers, who dropped only a single set all season, were led by senior outside hitter Amy Neal, who won state MVP honors and was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year in Texas. Lake Travis finished No. 2 in the final POWERADE FAB 50 national rankings for 2011.

End of an era
Wapahani (Selma, Ind.) stunned superpower Muncie Burris in the opening round of the Indiana sectional playoffs. With the four-set win, the Raiders ended Muncie Burris’ 14-year reign as state champions and halted its playoff winning streak at 95 matches. Wapahani didn’t stop there, going on to clinch the Class 2A title with a sweep of Eastern Greene.

Taking it to the beach
After the NCAA made sand volleyball an emerging sport in 2011-12, high school players looked to capitalize on an additional scholarship source. Arizona followed suit and will launch a sand volleyball pilot program in 2012, making it the first state to offer the sport at the high school level.

Grand finales in California
The California state championships brought the 2011 girls’ volleyball season to a rousing conclusion. In the Division II final, Presentation (San Jose, Calif.) rallied from two sets down to claim the crown. In Division I, Palo Alto was pushed to five sets but became the first Northern California volleyball team to win back-to-back Division I state titles and the first team in school history to notch back-to-back CIF state titles.

Thanks for coming
Mother McAuley (Chicago, Ill.) skipped the pleasantries and upset undefeated Berkeley Prep, at the time the No. 3 team in the nation, on the eve of hosting the prestigious Asics Challenge. Berkeley Prep got some measure of revenge the following day, topping Mother McAuley in straight sets in a rematch in the semifinals before falling to Assumption in the final.

Boys race to the finish
In one of the tightest races ever, Corona del Mar (Newport Beach, Calif.) was crowned the FAB 50 national champions for boys’ volleyball, edging fellow California powers Mira Costa, Buchanan, Santa Margarita and Mater Dei. The Sea Kings finished their season with a 32-4 record.

Sky High in Florida
Sky High Black of Crystal Lake, Ill., won the 17U title at the 38th AAU Junior National Volleyball Championships, part of the inaugural ESPNHS Girls Showcase at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., in June. It was the second consecutive national title for the squad, which was led by seniors Abby Gilleland and Mary Striedl.

READ MORE: Madison Bugg practically perfect

Meet the players who have been selected to the 2011 ESPNHS All-America volleyball team.

First team

(With name, position, year, school and college destination)

Taylor Morey, L, senior, Muncie Burris (Ind.), Notre Dame
Comment: Although her FAB 50 No. 45 team had its run of consecutive state titles end at 14, the 5-foot-6 Morey put up better numbers across the board. From her junior year, she went up in kills (415 to 436), digs (233 to 424) and aces (59 to 105).

Inky Ajanaku, MB, senior, Bishop Kelley (Okla.), Stanford
Comment: There was nothing dinky about the accomplishments for the 6-foot-4 Inky in her career for the FAB 50 No. 49 Comets. She led the team (32-3) to three state titles in four years with a .634 kill percentage as a senior.

Molly McCage, MB, senior, Klein Collins (Spring, Texas), Texas
Comment: A 6-foot-3 player who was captain of the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team last summer, McCage also led her high school team to a 32-10 record. She had 260 kills and 107 blocks and is known for her leaping ability.

Megan McGehee, MB, senior, Lee's Summit West (Mo.), Stanford
Comment: She came into this season as a two-time all-state pick and was academic all-state three times. The 6-foot-3 blocker then did even more, leading her team to a runner-up finish in the Class 4 state playoffs with 393 kills, 80 blocks and 103 digs.

Melanie Wade, MB, senior, Palo Alto (Calif.), Washington
Comment: The 6-foot-5 Wade was a major reason the FAB 50 No. 9 Vikings (36-3) became the first school from Northern California to win back-to-back CIF Division I state titles. She had 27 kills in the final match against Marymount of Los Angeles and ended the season with 594 kills, 65 aces and 255 digs.

Jordan Burgess, OH, senior, Berkeley Prep (Tampa, Fla.), Stanford
Comment: The Gatorade Florida Player of the Year for 2010 and 2011 also was the ESPNHS National Junior of the Year for 2010. Burgess, who is 6-foot-1 and multi-talented, led FAB 50 No. 5 Berkeley Prep (30-2) to its third straight state title. She had 553 kills, 366 digs, 48 aces and 32 blocks.

Nicole Dalton, OH, senior, Chaparral (Parker, Colo.), Texas
Comment: Considered the best player in Colorado history by many, Dalton is a two-time Gatorade State Player of the Year and led Chaparral to two straight Class 5A state titles and a final No. 8 ranking in the FAB 50. The 6-foot-2 member of last summer’s U.S. Youth National Team finished with 492 kills, 406 assists and 267 digs.

Amy Neal, OH, senior, Lake Travis (Austin, Texas), Texas
Comment: She isn’t the biggest outside hitter around at 5-foot-10, but makes up for that in many different ways. Neal led the FAB 50 No. 2 Cavaliers to a 50-0 record and has been chosen as the Texas Gatorade State Player of the Year. She had 538 kills, 287 digs and 63 aces on the season.

Kadie Rolfzen, OH, junior, Papillion-La Vista South (Papillion, Neb.), Nebraska
Comment: Last year’s top sophomore in the nation followed it up with another stellar season. At 6-foot-3, Rolfzen and twin sister Amber form the nucleus for Papillion-La Vista South’s teams that have gone 82-0 the last two seasons and have been FAB 50 national champions twice.

Emily Sklar, OH, senior, Presentation (San Jose, Calif.), Duke
Comment: She didn’t even start playing volleyball until she was a freshman three years ago and has quickly become one of the top players in the nation. The 6-foot-2 Sklar led the FAB 50 No. 14 Panthers (41-2) to the CIF Division II state title and had 584 kills and 487 digs for the season.

Katy Beals, S, senior, Lake Travis (Austin, Texas), Washington
Comment: She joined with teammate Amy Neal to lead the Cavaliers to their 50-0 dream season. The 6-foot-1 Beals nearly had 1,000 assists with a final total of 970. She also had 153 kills, 228 digs and 31 aces.

Madison Bugg, S/OH, senior, Cardinal Gibbons (Raleigh, N.C.), Stanford
Comment: She’s one of those players who shined at a different position in high school than the one she’s going to play in college. The 6-foot-1 standout was an outside hitter for Cardinal Gibbons and led the Crusaders (22-3) to their third straight Class 3A state title. She’ll be a setter at Stanford and has been a setter for the U.S. Girls’ Youth Team.

Megan Courtney, S/OH, senior, Archbishop Alter (Kettering, Ohio), Penn State
Comment: A versatile 6-foot-2 player who did it all for her Division II state finalist team, Courtney won the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year honor and has been all-state three times. For the season, she had 451 kills, 426 assists and 316 digs.

Katie George, S/OH, senior, Assumption (Louisville, Ky.), Louisville
Comment: Her credentials include the usual such as Miss Kentucky volleyball and Gatorade State Player of the Year, but the 5-foot-10 George also was MVP at the Durango Fall Classic in Las Vegas and made the all-tournament team at the Asics Challenge (an MVP was not named) in Chicago. She led the FAB 50 No. 3 Rockets to a 43-1 record and a state championship.

Andie Malloy, S/OH, senior, Lovejoy (Lucas, Texas), Iowa State
Comment: The 6-foot-2 Malloy helped her team become the first in Texas history to win four straight Class 3A state titles. She was a U.S. Junior National Team member last summer and ended the high school season with averages of 4.2 kills, 4.7 digs and 6.1 assists per set.

Second team

Caitlin Nolan, L, senior, Carroll (Southlake, Texas), Iowa State
Sheridan Zarda, L, senior, St. James Academy (Lenexa, Kan.), Nebraska
Sarah Burrington, MB, senior, Riverview (Fla.), Florida State
Meghan Haggerty, MB, senior, Benet Academy (Lisle, Ill.), Wisconsin
Kierra Holst, MB, senior, Coppell (Texas), Oklahoma
Ebony Nwanebu, MB, junior, Lovejoy (Lucas, Texas), USC
Mackenzie Bigbee, OH, senior, Williamsburg (Iowa), Iowa State
Macey Gardner, OH, senior, Gilbert (Ariz.), Arizona State
Brittany Howard, OH, senior, Mountain View (Calif.), Stanford
Paulina Prieto, OH, senior, Palmer Trinity (Palmetto Bay, Fla.), Penn State
Amber Rolfzen, OH, junior, Papillion-La Vista South (Papillion, Neb.), Nebraska
Lauren Sieckmann, S, senior, Marian (Omaha, Neb.), Nebraska
Alexis Viliunas, S, senior, Lyons Township (LaGrange, Ill.), Illinois
Rebecca Strehlow, S/OH, senior, Wilson (Long Beach, Calif.), UCLA
Taylor Racich, Opp., senior, Dos Pueblos (Goleta, Calif.), Pepperdine

Walter Villa


Alexa Strange is multi-talented.

The 6-foot senior setter/hitter at San Clemente (Calif.) has earned a scholarship to play for Nebraska and is interested in studying medicine. But she can make you laugh, too.

Asked if she has a nickname, Strange chuckled.

“With a name like mine, it’s not really necessary,” said Strange, who has an American-born father and a mother born in India. “They call me ‘Stranger Danger.’ But I’m going to be a doctor. Can you imagine? Dr. Strange?

“Hopefully, I get married before I start my profession. But I have to be careful because my last name will become my middle name. If I marry a guy with a last name ‘Hair,’ I’d be Alexa Strange-Hair.

“Most girls are interested in a guy’s looks. I look at his name.”

For now, though, Alexa is making the Strange name proud. She is part of the U.S. Youth National Team’s beach volleyball program, playing mostly with Southern Cal recruit Cinnamon Sary of Newport Harbor (Newport Beach, Calif.).

Strange said she prefers the beach game but is thrilled to get the chance to play indoors at Nebraska, where coach John Cook seems to already have an appreciation for her versatility.

“She is left-handed, and we are counting on her to contribute as a freshman,” Cook said on Huskers.com. “Alexa is what we’re going to call a utility player. She can play outside hitter, left or right side. She is strong in the back row, has a wicked arm and a high volleyball IQ.

“But her greatest strength may be her competitive fire.”

And there is nothing strange about that.

Green makes Texas history

Is there any team Julie Green can’t take to a championship?

After coaching Lake Travis (Austin, Texas) to a 2010 Class 4A state title, Green led Coppell (Coppell, Texas) to the 5A crown earlier this month.

Green became the first volleyball coach in Texas history to win two straight state titles with two different schools.

In an added twist, neither school had won state before Green arrived.

“Each championship is different, and each group of girls is different,” Green said. “But this one is very special.”

In order to win a third straight state title, Green – assuming she stays at Coppell – will have to replace four seniors.

The graduating players are state finals MVP and 6-4 middle blocker Kierra Holst, setters Bear Bass and Sarah Arnold and defensive specialist Kristin Dickerson.

But several key members of this year’s state title team are set to return, including Megan Kennedy, Cassidy Pickrell, Kylie Pickrell, Chiaka Ogbogu, Erica Bohannon and Kate Dicken.

Like father, like daughter

Katie George, a 5-10 senior setter for Assumption (Louisville, Ky.), signed with Louisville earlier this month and figures to make a seamless transition. That’s because her high school coach, Ron Kordes, is the father of her soon-to-be college coach, Anne Kordes.

As a junior, George committed to play for Anne Kordes at Saint Louis. But when the coach got hired at Louisville, George decided to follow her and play for the Cardinals.

George said she looks forward to playing college ball in front of her hometown fans and plans to study communications.

“I want to be a field reporter for ESPN like Erin Andrews,” said George, who is a sports columnist for her high school newspaper. “I love college football.”

NCAA tournament

Of the 10 seniors who earned 2010 ESPNHS first-team All-America honors, nine of them will be competing in the NCAA tournament, which begins Thursday.

Four of those players are on seeded teams: Haley Eckerman (No. 1 Texas); Aiyana Whitney (No. 8 Penn State); Megan Moenoa (No. 9 UCLA); and Tiffany Baker (No. 14 Tennessee).

Also getting their first taste of the NCAA postseason will be Krista Vansant of Washington; Christina Higgins and Lillian Schonewise of Cal; Kori Moster of Michigan State; and Chloe Mathis of Arizona.

The only All-American who did not get to the NCAA tournament was Jeni Houser of Notre Dame. Houser, though, had a strong season as a freshman starter.

By Walter Villa

2011 Asics Challenge Photo Gallery

CHICAGO, Ill. – Liberated from the pressure of an undefeated season, Assumption (Louisville, Ky.) has been delivering punishment to every opponent it has faced the past month.

On Saturday, it was the No. 3 team in the nation that got in their way.

No. 5 Assumption smashed Berkeley Prep (Tampa, Fla.) 25-17, 25-21 to win the 24-team Asics Challenge, which featured nine teams ranked in the POWERADE FAB 50.

It is the 11^th time in the past 16 years that the Rockets have won the Asics Challenge.

It is also the second straight elite tournament the No. 5 Rockets (32-1) have swept this season; the first was the 48-team Durango Fall Classic Sept. 16-17 in Las Vegas, Nev.

All of this has happened after the Rockets lost to No. 46 Chattahoochee (Johns Creek, Ga.), in three sets on Sept. 10.

“We’ve been playing great since then,” said Assumption senior Taylor Long, a 5-10 outside hitter. “We’ve been playing free.”

It wasn’t quite free for No. 3 Berkeley (16-2) this week. The Bucs’ two losses – they also fell to No. 35 Mother McAuley (Chicago, Ill.) on Thursday – will likely cost them in the rankings.

Berkeley coach Randy Dagostino said his team’s 14 service errors – about a dozen more than usual – were the biggest factor in the loss to McAuley.

“I’m going to take the blame for that,” Dagostino said. “I had been telling our girls to serve aggressively.

“But look, finishing undefeated has never been a goal of mine. I’ve never gone undefeated in 28 years of coaching. If undefeated was my goal, I’d never leave Florida.”

Since the loss to McAuley, Berkeley made sure to get its serves in, allowing setter Mackenzie Dagostino, a Maryland recruit, to distribute to Stanford commit Jordan Burgess and rising 5-11 sophomore star Sidney Brown.

That strategy worked well until they faced Assumption, which played stellar defense to win back the title it lost in 2010.

“We’re not very large on the outside, but I was very impressed with our defense,” Assumption coach Ron Kordes said. “We touched a lot of balls on (Burgess). We slowed her balls down. If you don’t, you are only going to dig her so much.”

Kordes said 6-3 junior Taylor Paulson was an active blocker, and the coach also praised his team’s depth. He used 11 players on Saturday, which is about his norm with this team.

Not lost in all the glory was the back-row specialists, 5-4 senior Chelsea Bowles and 5-8 juniors London Ackerman and Kaelin Grimes.

No MVP was picked for the tournament, but more than a couple people came away mighty impressed with Bowles.

“Chelsea was on it,” Long said. “She was here, she was there, she was everywhere.

“We don’t come across big hitters like (Burgess) very often. But when we do, Chelsea, London and Kaelin always step up.”

Senior setter Katie George, the only Assumption standout who made the six-player all-tournament team, said the Rockets’ back row frustrated Burgess, who had no kills in the first set before nailing nine in the second.

“As a hitter, you become impatient when you don’t get kills right off the bat,” said George, who has recovered from the blood clots she suffered this past summer and played for the first time this weekend without her protective helmet. “Our defense was outstanding.”

Paulson also spoke in glowing terms of the Rockets’ defense and seemed to be somewhat amazed by how her team thwarted some high-caliber players.

“We shut down their outside hitters, and they are not used to that,” Paulson said. “I mean, look at them – Stanford (Burgess) … come on!”

Coming on is exactly what the Rockets have been doing since losing to Chattahoochee. No coach ever wants to lose a match, but Kordes said he is happy his girls no longer have that stress.

“It’s real difficult to stay undefeated,” he said. “We’ve done it a couple times, but the pressure on the girls is terrible, monumental. Now we can just play.”

The 2011 Durango Fall Classic is in the books. We take a look back at some of the highlights, including the championship match between Assumption (Louisville, Ky.) and Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, Calif.) and an interview with MVP Katie George.

By Kirstin Olsen/ESPN HS

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The talent stepped up on Day 2 of the Durango Fall Classic as teams made their runs deep into the tournament.

We salute the top 10 players.

Rebecca Strehlow, Long Beach Wilson (Long Beach, Calif.): The 6-foot-1 setter/outside hitter is the complete package. She can pass, set, hit, block and serve. She is strong and takes control of the game. The only problem is that she can’t pass, set and hit every ball, and her team needs more of her. Though the Bruins didn’t have the best showing, UCLA coach Mike Sealy has a great player coming into his program next year.

Sara Hughes Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.): The 5-11 setter/opposite is the most well-rounded player on her team. Only a junior, Hughes shows her overall skills as she fights for balls and bangs them on the right down the line. Her skills from the beach shine through with her excellent ball control and court sense. Any program would be lucky to have Sara fight for them.

Kelly Murphy, Walton (Marietta, Ga.): This 6-1 senior outside hitter was a powerhouse for her team. She sides out like a champ and can move the ball around.

Lauren Fuller, Marymount (Los Angeles, Calif.): You can tell a good setter when you almost don’t notice her but see they ball spread around evenly. This 5-11 senior can back set a pipe, set a quick from her knees and has a sisterly connection with outside hitter/twin sister, Manon. She is athletic and strong and has a nice high quick delivery.

Crissy Jones, Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, Calif.):This 6-2 sophomore middle blocker takes control of the net when she’s up. With a nice high reach and a quick snap on quick sets, she's a nice addition to Los Al’s balanced attack on the outside.

Abby Hornacek, Xavier Prep (Phoenix, Ariz.): The 6-1 opposite with an unconventional style brings it on the right side. Her hard angle is hard to stop and she puts up a nice block as well. She is well-rounded with her game, and she does a good job making good decisions.

Misty Ma’a, Kamehameha (Honolulu, Hawaii): The 6-1 outside hitter hits some sharp angles and put up a wall of a block on the net. She was the main offensive weapon for her team this weekend and did a great job moving the ball around with good court vision.

Katie George, Assumption (Louisville, Ky.): The girl in the helmet was an inspiration for all this weekend as the 5-11 setter did everything she could for her team. She set and passed and hit a few rotations, showing her versatility as a player.

Karlee Fuller, La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.): The 6-foot outside hitter led the attack for the Mavericks. As part of a solid front row, Karlee chiseled away at opposing teams' blocks and helped lead her team to the semifinals.

Skylar Dykstra, Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.): The 5-10 outside hitter was a force on the left for the Sea Hawks. She used a variety of shots and displayed excellent ball control to give her team the balance it needed.

By Walter Villa
LAS VEGAS, Nev. – There has been no disruption at Assumption (Louisville, Ky.).

After graduating six players from last year’s state championship team – all of whom are now competing in college – the Rockets are still rising.

On Saturday night, Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, Calif.) felt the full force of the Assumption machine, getting overpowered for much of the Rockets’ 25-13, 25-19 victory in the championship match of the Durango Fall Classic.

Senior setter Katie George, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, helped Assumption lead from wire-to-wire in the first set, and the Rockets fell behind only briefly in the early stages of the second.

“This is just icing on the cake,” George said of the MVP. “The main thing I’m happy about is our team won.”


The Rockets won by doing just about everything right. They utilized their short tip, they slowed Los Alamitos’ 6-foot-2 middle hitter Crissy Jones and they thrived even when offensive plays broke down.

A couple of questionable calls went Assumption’s way, but give the Rockets’ defense credit. They got their hands on just about everything, and their serve seemed to handcuff Los Alamitos.

Assumption, which also won Durango in 2005, is now the first non-California team to win the prestigious event twice.

The Rockets’ success in 2011 has surprised even those in Assumption’s inner circle, who figured the team would suffer – at least initially – without talents such as middle blocker Jeni Houser (Notre Dame), libero Jackie Napper (Kentucky) and setter Courtney Robison (West Virginia).

The other graduated stars were outside hitters Claire Gerwig (Western Michigan) and Taylor Allgeier (Eastern Kentucky) and opposite hitter Laura Purcell (Loyola-Chicago).

“I had my doubts,” George said when asked if she thought the Rockets would be this good this quickly. “But we’re so much further along than where we were last year. We’re jelling as a team. This tournament was exactly what we needed.”

The Rockets (22-1), ranked 13th in the POWERADE FAB 50 national volleyball rankings, have already beaten powers such as Sacred Heart (Louisville, Ky.), Muncie Burris (Muncie, Ind.) and Muncie Central (Muncie, Ind.).

And that was before Durango. Now you can add wins over tough outs such as Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.), No. 30 Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.), La Costa Canyon (Carlsbad, Calif.) and No. 7 Los Alamitos.

“We knew we had some good talent waiting,” coach Ron Kordes said of his returners. “Still, I’ve been impressed with the way the girls have come out and played like veterans right away.”

The 2011 Rockets have four players who have committed to Division I colleges: George (Louisville); senior libero Chelsea Bowles (Tennessee-Martin) and junior defensive specialists Kaelin Grimes (Western Kentucky) and London Ackerman (Georgia Tech).

Other standouts include 5-8 sophomore setter Alexa Filley; 6-3 junior middle blocker Taylor Paulson; 6-0 senior middle blocker Dallas Zimmerman; and 5-10 senior outside hitter Taylor Long.

Kordes said Paulson was an especially big factor on Saturday, but the middle blocker gave credit to the entire team.

“I think our serve and our serve-receive were big,” Paulson said. “We work really hard on serving deep with our floaters. We serve to the outside, and that makes it a lot harder for them to get around the ball, which causes mistakes. That was our tactic, and it worked.”

Assumption lost just one set this weekend, and that came on Saturday morning in a 26-24, 15-25, 25-9 win over Mater Dei.

On the season, Assumption’s only loss came last week against No. 20 Chattahoochee (Johns Creek, Ga.), 27-25, 21-25, 25-19.

“They had these two outside hitters, and we couldn’t stop them,” Paulson of the Georgia team. “They were two awesome players, and they went right over our block. What are you supposed to do?”

Actually, what the Rockets are supposed to do now is celebrate. Paulson said she and her teammates were prepared to have fun Saturday night.

“We are going to walk the Strip, have a little Vegas time,” Paulson said. “It’ll be fun. Dress up, take pictures, stuff like that.”

With the title secured, many of the Assumption players and parents turned their post-game attention to the hometown Louisville Cardinals, who had a Saturday night game at in-state rival Kentucky.

Rooting for Louisville is an especially big passion for George, the Cardinals recruit.

“I’m a huge U of L fan,” George said. “If they beat Kentucky, that would make it a perfect day.”

George’s wish was granted later Saturday night as Louisville won 24-17, snapping a four-game skid in the series against Kentucky.

Somewhere on the Strip, you can bet George and the rest of the Assumption girls were whooping it up.

By Walter Villa

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Wearing a helmet and pads, Katie George may look like a like a football player – but she’s not.

She’s tougher than that.

George, a 5-foot-10 senior setter for Assumption (Louisville, Ky.), had her tonsils removed in July. But soon after the routine procedure, doctors discovered a blood clot in her left lung.

She was in the hospital -- still suffering from severe pain -- when a doctor told George, a University of Louisville recruit, that her high school volleyball career was over.

George’s mother, Ann, started crying. Katie George, battling her own tears and shortness of breath, tried to protest. The monitors strapped to her body sensed her stress level and started blaring like a police siren.

“I don’t think people understand how serious volleyball is in the lives (of the kids who play the sport),” said George, who led Assumption, the No. 13 team in the POWERADE FAB 50 national volleyball rankings, to three straight wins on Friday, qualifying the Rockets for Saturday’s Sweet 16 round of the prestigious Durango Fall Classic.

“We work so hard and basically give up having a regular teen-age life. For (the doctor) to say, ‘You are not going to play your final high school season, but you will live’ was not good news. I was devastated.”

Devastated … but not deterred.

“It was shocking when they found the blood clot,” Ann George said. “You just don’t expect that to happen to a 17-year-old girl.

“Katie had been looking forward to her senior season for quite some time. But to her credit, she started researching other players who had competed in her condition.”

George took her research to her doctor, who was from India and knew nothing about volleyball. George told him she would wear whatever padding he wanted … as long as she could play.


The doctor then asked if volleyball is a contact sport.

“It is the way I play, running into chairs and bleachers,” George said with a laugh. “But I didn’t tell him that.”

Still, the doctor was not convinced. So George, undaunted, called her uncle, Salem George Jr., who is a vascular surgeon. He recommended another doctor, who said George could play as long as she wears a helmet and pads. This would prevent internal bleeding in case of an on-court collision.

“I said, ‘All right! I like this guy!’ ” George said.

George also has to wear a compression hose from her left foot to her thigh. The fit is so tight, it takes three minutes to put on.

The original hose given to her was white, but George has switched to black, more in keeping with Assumption’s uniform.

“With the helmet, the pads and the hose, it looks like I’m pretending to be Allen Iverson … I look ridiculous,” George said. “But I don’t care.”

Coach Ron Kordes, who led Assumption to its 15^th state title last year, has nothing but praise for George, who has had no collisions since playing with the black foam helmet that is now a big part of her life.

“For her age, she is one of the best leaders I’ve ever coached,” he said. “She never quits.”

Indeed, there’s no denying George’s toughness. The theory is that she gets it from her brothers, Timmy, 22, and Charlie, 21, who grew up using their little sister as a backyard target while practicing their lacrosse skills.

Toughened up by her bruising brothers, George would not let chronic tonsillitis keep her from playing volleyball. She would routinely play despite swollen tonsils and a 103 degree fever.

Doctors told her removing her tonsils was not necessary, but she asked for the procedure. She didn’t want anything to get in the way of her impending college career.

When she was hospitalized for the blood clot -- and worried she was losing her volleyball conditioning -- she began taking fast-paced walking laps around the nurses’ station. Never mind that she was attached to an IV. She simply took the rolling pole with her.

After six days in the hospital, George was going “stir crazy” and convinced doctors to release her. But this meant she had to give herself blood-thinning injections twice a day for 10 days.

“They made me practice on oranges until I learned how to do it,” George said. “After I started giving myself the injections, first in my stomach and then on my right thigh, I looked like a junkie. I had bruises everywhere. It really hurt.”

But, remember, George is tough.

Three weeks after she was hospitalized, she was still feeling pain in her left leg. She called her uncle, who scheduled another ultrasound. This time, a second clot was discovered in her left leg.

George, who is still on blood-thinning medication, said she is “perfectly fine” and continues to play.

“When I go on a serving run, I feel pain,” she said. “But that’s just because I have a jump serve. I also have to watch what I eat. And I can’t run into doors like I normally do. I have to be careful.”

That is easier said than done for George.

“My husband (Tim) cringes every time she dives on the court,” Ann George said. “But with Katie, there is no second gear.”