Published: November 27, 2009 07:05 am      

Camanche teammates share top honor on All-Area volleyball team

By Jon Gremmels

Herald Sports Editor

CLINTON — Ashtyn Dixon could deliver a huge point on the front row or save her team from a point with a sensational defensive play. Teammate Chelsea Moore could disable an opponent with a powerful spike or one of the top serves in the state.

The two seniors were a key reason for Camanche’s success on the volleyball court the past three years that culminated with a trip to the Class 2A state tournament this season. While the Indians had a lot more to offer than just those two seniors, they are being honored as co-Players of the Year on the Clinton Herald All-Area Volleyball team.

The three honor teams were selected by members of the Herald staff with guidance from area coaches.

“I’m pretty excited to find out they were both selected,” said Camanche’s Mark Cremer, who was named Coach of the Year. “The last time it happened — in 2000 — we had Drew Meyermann and Erin Hagge, and they remind me of them. Both are three-year starters and three-year all-conference players. This year both were (first-team) all-conference and Ashtyn was the (Big East Conference) MVP, was named all-state and Chelsea was named third-team all-state.”

Dixon and Moore were joined on the Herald’s first team by teammate Tiana Bark, a junior setter; Clinton’s Sarah Massey; Fulton’s Lindsey Renkes and Kim Rogis; Preston’s Emily Henningsen, the only other junior on the first team; and Maquoketa’s Melissa Dever. Each honor team had two outside hitters, one middle hitter, one setter, one libero or defensive specialist, a server and two utility players who excelled both on the front and back rows.

Members of the second team were West Carroll’s Becca Fritz, Central DeWitt’s Hanna Harlson, Camanche’s Ashley Gonzalez, Clinton’s Ashley Haugen, Bellevue Marquette’s Audrey Sieverding, Fulton’s Allison DeWeerdt, Maquoketa’s Cassandra Shea and Bellevue’s Alesha Ries. Players on the third team were Katelyn Garrison of Erie, East Central’s Sam Lippens, Northeast’s Rachel Eberhart, Rebecca Meinema of Fulton Unity Christian, Preston’s Kelcie Bormann, Maquoketa’s Alicia Filloon and Clinton’s Paige Dehner and Mallory Voss.

Moore was selected as a first-team server because she ranked second in Iowa with 123 aces during the season, but she could have been honored on the frontline, too. She had a .454 hitting efficiency and averaged 3.2 kills a game to lead the Indians, who lost in the Class 2A state quarterfinals to Wapsie Valley and finished with a 41-4 record.

“Chelsea brings a lot of offense to the table,” Cremer said. “She has the most variety in her offensive weapons. Her serve is probably the toughest serve I’ve seen in our program. I’ve been around vollebyall in Camanche for 30 years, and she is one of the most prolific servers I’ve watched.”

Moore’s athletic future in college is in tennis, where she has won two state singles titles and finished second once, but Cremer said he has no doubt that she could play volleyball at that level, too.

The same for Dixon, he said.

Dixon averaged 2.8 kills a game with a .423 attack percentage, delivered 86 aces with a .940 serving percentage and led the Indians with 361 digs (3.5 a game).

“On the court, Ashtyn probably is one of the best readers I’ve ever seen on the court,” Cremer said. “She played middle back and made a huge difference. She read opposing hitters so well and is so quick to get from one spot to another.”

Bark was another returning hitter who moved to the setter spot to fill a void in the Camanche lineup.

Bark broke the school’s single-season assist record with 806 (7.8 a game), but she remained a threat to finish off rallies, too. She averaged 1.8 kills a game and had a .414 hitting efficiency.

“I can’t say enough about what it meant for our success when Tiana agreed to make the move from hitter to setter in the 5-1 attack,” Cremer said. “It makes a big difference when you don’t have to get used to getting passes from two different setters. Anytime the ball was above the net, teams had to respect her ability to put down the ball.”

Cremer said the Indians were a fun team to coach. Despite the talent, it took several things to come together to have the success the team enjoyed. Besides moving Bark to setter, the Indians also had to incorporate several new players into the lineup.

“There was a little bit of a roller coaster,” Cremer said. “The preseason was awesome. We had five kids back starting, but we also had four kids who hadn’t played at the varsity level ever and three hadn’t played volleyball in two or three years, and they were so key to our success. It’s probably hard for me to describe it. Our big job now is to fill holes the incredible seniors have left for us.”

The season was highlighted by a string of 76 consecutive game victories.

“The weird part was that during the first part, no one probably realized we had the streak because the games were so close together,” Cremer said. “When you’re going through that, basically you have one day to prepare for the next opponent.”

Success in the area wasn’t limited to Camanche.

Fulton, for instance, finished second in the Three Rivers Conference, with its lone two conference losses to league champion Riverdale.

Rogis was named the conference MVP as a libero after being the only unanimous all-conference pick.

“The game has evolved so much,” Fulton coach Stacy Germann said. “We as coaches know when there’s a good libero because it completely affects your offensive game. Kim has stopped a lot of teams from kills.”

While Rogis excelled in the back row with 465 digs, Renkes was one of the team’s key players up front in the middle. She had 110 blocks and 227 kills for a team that spread the ball around and used all of its players in the rotation.

“Lindsey still was our big hitting force,” Germann said.

Another highlight of the season was Clinton coach Mark Massey recording his 700th career victory, an occasion made more special with his daughter on the team. Sarah Massey was a first-team All-Mississippi Athletic Conference selection who came up big on both offense and defense for the River Queens. She averaged 2.7 kills with a .263 hitting percentage and led the team with 356 digs (4.5 a game).

“Sarah is the type of player that’s not going to set a record in any single category, but when you combine things for what a team needs to win — serving, serve-receive, playing defense. hitting the ball — she really combines all of those things pretty well,” Mark Massey said. “She combined a lot of things. She had the most kills for us throughout the year, but most of the time she wasn’t our leading hitter on any given night. She had some great saves, but so much of it is, like defense in any sport, is anticipation. It seemed like Sarah had a pretty good knack for reading hitters and where they were going to go.”

Henningsen also made an impact on both offense and defense. She led Preston in both kills (2.0 a game) and digs (2.5), and she also was second on the team with 139 assists.

“Emily basically led the team in most stats,” Preston coach Denise Larson said. “Overall, she’s an all-around great player. We started the season with a 6-2 and her as a setter for the first time. Later, we went to a 5-1 and reverted her to defense. She’s very focused. She may not be the most powerful hitter, but she’s a smart hitter. When we did run the 6-2, there was a big difference in our ability to defend.”

Dever was an All-WaMaC Conference East first-team player. She averaged 3.9 kills a game and 3.5 digs.

“She’s the school record holder for kills in a match, 25, and kills per game, 4.1 in 2008,” Maquoketa coach Jill Schawl said. “She’s a Division II recruit.”





CLINTON HERALD 2009

ALL-AREA VOLLEYBALL

First team

Outside hitter Melissa Dever Sr. Maquoketa

Outside hitter Ashtyn Dixon Sr. Camanche

Middle hitter Lindsey Renkes Sr. Fulton

Utility player Sarah Massey Sr. Clinton

Utility player Emily Henningsen Jr. Preston

Setter Tiana Bark Jr. Camanche

Libero Kim Rogis Sr. Fulton

Server Chelsea Moore Sr. Camanche

Second team

Outside hitter Becca Fritz Sr. West Carroll

Outside hitter Hanna Harlson Sr. Central DeWitt

Middle hitter Ashley Gonzalez Jr. Camanche

Utility player Ashley Haugen Sr. Clinton

Utility player Audrey Sieverding Sr. B’vue Marquette

Setter Allison DeWeerdt Sr. Fulton

Libero Cassandra Shea Jr. Maquoketa

Server Alesha Ries Sr. Bellevue

Third team

Outside hitter Katelyn Garrison Sr. Erie

Outside hitter Sam Lippens Jr. East Central

Middle hitter Rachel Eberhart Jr. Northeast

Utility player Rebecca Meinema Jr. Fulton Unity

Utility player Kelcie Bormann Jr. Preston

Setter Alicia Filloon Sr. Maquoketa

Libero Paige Dehner Sr. Clinton

Server Mallory Voss Sr. Clinton

Honorable mention

Outside hitters — Rachel Henning (Sr.) Central DeWitt; Sydney Gray (Jr.) East Central; Brandy Herrington (Jr.) Northeast; Brittany Horst (Sr.) Prince of Peace; Danika Loots (Sr.) Northeast; Kelsey Munck (Sr.) Fulton; Haley Pulse (Jr.) Camanche; Kara Snowden (Jr.) Erie; Shawna Spain (Sr.) Northeast; Kelsie Stafford, Prophetsown; Danielle Stralow (Jr.) Morrison; Sam Sumption (Jr.) Morrison; Callie Willoughby (Jr.) Fulton Unity;

Middle hitters — Mareah Adolphs (Jr.) East Central; Hannah Dykstra (So.) Fulton Unity; Amber Grant (Jr.) Fulton; Leisha Harris (Jr.) Clinton; Laura Osterhaus (So.), Maquoketa; Kassie Prier (Jr.) Central DeWitt; Brena Smithson (Sr.) Preston; Tamber Thoma (Sr.) Bellevue Marquette; Erica Ugarph (Sr.) Prince of Peace

Setters — Courtney Camp (Jr.) Clinton; Megan Lehmkuhl (Sr.) Prince of Peace; Kelsey Lorenzen (Jr.) Northeast; Shelby McBride (Sr.) Morrison; Tracey Pingel (Sr.) Calamus-Wheatland; Chelsey Sipe (Sr.) West Carroll;

Liberos/defensive specialists — Arianna Block (Sr.) Central DeWitt; Katy Cook (Jr.) West Carroll; Kari Kuehl (Sr.) Fulton; Carie Kuehn (So.) Prince of Peace.