PLAYER OF THE YEAR
SAVANNA RINEY
SCHOOL Bentonville High
CLASS Senior
HEIGHT 5-10
POSITION Outside hitter
THE SCOOP Was a key figure offensively and defensively which helped Bentonville claim its first state title since 2014. ... Earned all-state honors for the second consecutive year and was named state tournament MVP with 22 kills and no errors in 37 swings (.595) in the finals. ... The four-year letter winner finished with a team-best 453 kills to go with 51 service aces, 29 blocks, 360 digs and 315 serve receptions with only 27 errors.
DID YOU KNOW? Savanna is the third Riney sister to play for Michelle Smith at Bentonville. She joins Taylor, a 2012 graduate, and Madison, who graduated in 2015. Riney enjoyed running track, competing in the 100 meters, the long jump and triple jump when she was younger but decided to concentrate on volleyball as a freshman.
QUOTABLE "This season I thought it was more relaxed because every game came out there, and I was thinking this is one of the last times, so I'm gonna play, so I'm gonna try my hardest. I just kept reminding everyone this is our last time, so we have to give it our all. This year we knew how good we are and just kept going with it.
-- Paul Boyd • @NWAPaulB
COACH OF THE YEAR
MICHELLE SMITH
SCHOOL Bentonville High
THE SCOOP Smith led the Lady Tigers to their sixth state title in 13 seasons at the school. ... She also topped the 350-win plateau in her career this season and improved to 6-1 in state finals. ... Smith led Bentonville to four titles in five years from 2007-2011.
DID YOU KNOW? Smith competed in figure skating growing up in Canada but chose to concentrate on volleyball at age 14. Her sisters decided to focus on figure skating and hockey. The 6-foot-1 Smith decided to leave the one-stoplight town she grew up in Ontario to play college volleyball in the United State at Arkansas. She was recruited as a middle but played later in her career on the right side where she was a two-time All-Southeastern Conference performer and team captain.
QUOTABLE "This group, this team is a prime example of reaching your full potential both on and off the court. Their team chemistry was amazing. They gave me every ounce of their being. They weren't the model of a big D-1 volleyball player, but when all that comes together it's pretty amazing, and they will run through a brick wall for you."
-- Paul Boyd • @NWAPaulB
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
KENNEDY PHELAN
SCHOOL Fayetteville
CLASS Freshman
HEIGHT 5-6
POSITION Setter
THE SCOOP Phelan was steady the Lady Purple'Dogs attack by running the 5-1 offense with great efficiency and earning all-state honors. ... The 14-year-old finished with 1,072 assists but also aided with a team-best 54 service aces to go with 38 blocks and 245 digs.
DID YOU KNOW? Kennedy enjoys art when she's not on the volleyball court, specifically drawing and painting. She comes from an athletic family as her mother Jessica, who is now the volleyball coach earned All-American honors at Arkansas while her father, Darin, played tennis at Arkansas and now coaches the Fayetteville High tennis team.
QUOTABLE "The role as a setter is kind of unique because you're running the offense. It's definitely kind of intimidating to come in and start right away with the older players but as the season went on we got closer and I got more comfortable in my position. There's a lot of senior leadership on the team. I just tried to always play hard and be excited all the time to help reflect that onto our team. There was definitely some awkwardness at the beginning of the year with just communication, but we got better as the year went on, got smoother."
THE TEAM
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Savanna Riney Bentonville High 5-10 Outside Hitter Sr. Earned state tournament Most Valuable Player honors to lead the Lady Tigers to the Class 6A state title.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Michelle Smith-Bentonville High-Guided the Lady Tigers to their sixth state title in 13 seasons at Bentonville.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Kennedy Phelan-Fayetteville-5-7-Setter-Fr.-Earned all-state honors in guiding the Lady Purple Bulldogs’ offense and helping them to the Class 6A state semifinals.
FIRST TEAM
Player-School -Pos.-Ht.-Class-Notable
Avery Fitzgerald-Fort Smith Southside-Outside hitter-6-0-Jr.-Mississippi State commit earned all-state honors for the second straight season and led the Mavericks to back-to-back Class 6A state runner-up finishes. Fitzgerald was a force offensively, finishing with 414 kills and 117 service aces to go with 238 digs.
Hannah Hogue-Fort Smith Southside-Setter/Outside hitter-5-9-Jr.-Arkansas commit was a two-time all-state selection and help Southside to its second consecutive Class 6A state runner-up finish. Hogue was an all-around contributor, guiding the offense with 995 assists to go with 317 digs, 47 blocks, and 57 service aces.
Kat Cooper-Springdale Har-Ber-Middle Hitter-6-1-So.-Was a big offensive force for the Lady Wildcats by hitting .332 with a team-high 328 kills and 69 blocks to go with 40 service aces in earning all-state honors.
Camryn Presley-Greenwood-Setter/Middle hitter-6-0-Sr.-Carried a huge load in helping the Lady Bulldogs to their second straight Class 5A state runner-up finish, posting a team-best 353 kills to go with 359 assists, 281 digs, 67 blocks, and 39 aces and earned all-state honors.
Rosana Hicks-Fayetteville-Outside hitter-6-1-Jr.-Was key offensive weapon to help the Lady Purple Bulldogs advance to the state semifinals, earning all-state honors and finishing with a team-high 378 kills to go with 42 blocks.
Kortney Puckett-Bentonville West-Outside hitter-6-0-Sr.-Earned all-state honors for the second consecutive year and finished the season with 411 kills, 37 aces, 39 blocks, and 219 digs along with 1,185 kills for her career and helped West reach the state tournament for a third straight year.
Izzy Davis-Greenwood-Libero-5-0-Sr.-Anchored the Lady Bulldogs defense with 485 digs (4.5 per set) and passed nails out of serve receive to help key the Greenwood attack.
SECOND TEAM
Player-School-Pos.-Ht.-Class-Notable
Trinity Hamilton-Bentonville High-Outside hitter-5-7-So.-Earned all-state honors by helping the Lady Tigers on offense and defense, finishing with 391 digs to go with 51 aces and 339 kills.
Rain Vaughn-Hackett-Outside hitter-5-8-Jr.-Claimed Class 2A state tournament Most Valuable Player honors to help the Hornets claim their first state title in school history. Vaughn finished with a team-high 246 kills, hit .335 and added 31 blocks.
Caylan Koons-Springdale Har-Ber-Setter/Outside hitter-5-7-So.-Contributed in many different ways to the Lady Wildcats’ success in her first season, serving up a team-high 47 aces and dishing out a team-best 584 assists to earn all-state honors not to mention adding 280 digs, 177 kills.
Madalyn Doolittle-Van Buren-Outside hitter-5-9-Sr.-Earned all-state honors by hammering a team-high 305 kills to go with 30 aces, 22 blocks, 173 digs and even helped out in serve reception.
Hannah Watkins-Greenwood-Middle hitter/Right side-6-6-Jr.-Was a force at the net for the Lady Bulldogs totaling an incredible 132 blocks, tops in the state, along with 206 kills and an amazing .374 hitting percentage to earn all-state honors.
Nicole Medlin-Fort Smith Northside-Middle hitter/Outside hitter-6-0-Sr.-Earned all-state honors to help the Lady Bears claim a state tournament victory for the first time in several years. The Arkansas-Little Rock signee led Northside with 397 kills and 117 blocks to become a dominant force at the net.
Kloey Eakin-Bentonville High-Libero-5-2-Sr.-Finished the season with an unbelievable 686 digs, an average of 6.1 per set to anchor the Lady Tigers defense and also got the Bentonville offense on track with 768 serve receptions and only 56 errors.
…….
-- Paul Boyd • @NWAPaulB
Preps Sports on 12/15/2019