It's Crowded (With Our VB Athletes) At the Top
The NCAA DI Volleyball Elite 8 is today. Eight teams, 136 athletes. Missouri and Kansas produced nine of them. That is 2.5X in proportion to our population. This isn't new. It is how it is.
Every year Missouri and Kansas high school graduates will find themselves competing for a national championship in the NCAA. This Fall Season, the NCAA will award 24 national championship trophies to teams in three divisions (four for football) in eight sports. As of this writing 16 of those 24 team champions have been crowned. Local talent on all championship teams will be highlighted after the last championship game is played in January. Don’t miss that article!
Is there a dominant sport from this area? Yes. Look no further than the NCAA DI Volleyball Elite 8 being played today. There will be nine local athletes competing with their team to advance to the NCAA DI Women’s Volleyball Final Four.
Here is today’s schedule:
3:00 - Louisville vs Pittsburgh - Follow the action here.
5:00 - Nebraska vs Arkansas - Follow the action here.
7:00 - Wisconsin vs Oregon - Follow the action here.
9:00 - Texas vs Stanford - Follow the action here.
The Local Talent:
Here are the nine who are still digging, serving, assisting, blocking, and yes, killing it.
Ava Roth - Freshman - Libero - Jefferson-Festus - Arkansas
Ava did not play in a match in her freshman season which makes her eligible to redshirt
Lily Dudley - Freshman - Outside Hitter - Rock Bridge - Arkansas
Lily did not play in a match in her freshman season which makes her eligible to redshirt.
Jillian Gillen - Graduate Student - Outside Hitter - Barstow - Arkansas
Jillian led the Razorbacks in kills and was named to the Southeastern Conference First Team. Twice she was honored as the conference player of the week. Jillian led Arkansas in their upset over Kentucky to get them to the Elite 8. Not only did Jillian lead her team, she was an excellent interview after the match. You can see highlights of the match here. Jillian is No. 10 in red. Incidentally, Brooklyn DeLeye, a freshman from Washburn Rural, is No. 17 for Kentucky. The interview with Jillian is at 18:30.
Courtney Jackson - Junior - Libero - Olathe Northwest - Arkansas
Courtney played in all 123 sets this season. She was named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week.
Lo Jones - Freshman - Setter - Carl Junction - Arkansas
Lo did not play in a match in her freshman season which makes her eligible to redshirt.
Caroline Crawford - Senior - Middle Blocker - Lansing - Wisconsin
Caroline started all 32 matches for the Badgers this season. She was second on her team in blocks and blocks per set. Caroline was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.
Ayden Bartlett - Senior - Libero - Leavenworth - Louisville
Ayden played in 42 sets, recording six service aces.
Ella Swindle - Freshman - Setter - Rock Bridge - Texas
The former Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year started all 29 matches for the Longhorns. Her team leading 9.51 assists per set helped her earn a place on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
Taylor Beaven - Junior - Defensive Specialist - Seckman - Stanford University
Taylor played in 13 matches for the No. 2 ranked Cardinal.
As mentioned, Missouri and Kansas have athletes who are already national champions this year. I am sure there will be more. Perhaps from the above list. Be sure to look for the list of Fall National Champions in an upcoming article.
You won’t want to miss the postseason “It’s a Wrap” series where we list the season stats for every Fall athlete in five sports along with highlighting those who won season honors or placed high statistically. Those will be published as all of the data is available. You can get your free subscription here:
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