March 29, 2024

Jasper County lands seven on HOI all-conference

Seven area players found themselves on Heart of Iowa Conference all-conference lists, which were released late last week.

Leading the way for county schools was Prairie City-Monroe, which placed four players on the lists. Senior Alex Samson was the area’s lone first-team selection after playing a hybrid of setter and middle blocker this season. Samson finished first on the team with 211 assists and second with 116 kills. She also finished third in aces with 26 while racking up a .981 service efficiency (208-for-212).

Junior Abbi Gilson was placed on the second team with stats similar to Samson’s. Gilson led the team in kills (136) and digs (123) while placing second in assists with 108. Gilson also led the team in aces with a whopping 54, while going 266-for-282 (.943) from the service line.

Taking honorable mention was the senior duo of Kelsey Townsend and Kaitlyn Wilkie. Townsend was third on the team in kills (107) and second in digs (93) while serving up 20 aces. Wilkie provided the Mustangs’ big presence at the net, leading the team with 67 total blocks. She also was fourth on the team in digs (71) and fifth in kills with 55.

Collins-Maxwell-Baxter got three players named to the lists, led by junior Abbie Haupert, who was selected to the second team. Playing in the middle, Haupert led the Raiders in kills with 181 and blocks with 41 total. She was also second on the team with 23 aces and fourth with 117 digs.

Seniors Shelby Berg and Cheyanne Warne ended their careers with honorable mentions for CMB. Berg served as a defensive specialist throughout the season, leading the team with 195 digs, while also going 161-for-177 (.910) with 11 aces from the service line.

Warne, meanwhile, did most of her damage from the service line and racked up a team-high 47 aces with her big jump serve. That total also put her in fifth for aces in the conference. Warne also finished second on the team with 112 kills and 25 total blocks.

It was a trying season for Colfax-Mingo (2-24), but it did manage to have two honorable mention picks as seniors Sydnie Fahnrey and Jessica Kolo both made all-conference.

The 5-foot-5 Fahrney was third on the team in kills (49), was an 82.4 percent server (201-of-244) and was by far the team-leader in aces with 57 and digs with 141. Kolo (5-foot-7) was second on the team with 51 kills, was an 86.1 percent server (143-of-166) with 15 aces. She totaled 150 assists and 43 digs.