East team middle blocker Regan Pittman (27) accepts the East team MVP award from AVCA representative Kathy Deboer and Under Armour representative Tiffany Gansler at the Under Armour All-American Volleyball Game. (Photo: Steven Branscombe, USA TODAY Sports)
OMAHA, Neb. – It didn’t take long for the 12 girls playing for Team East in the Under Armour All-American Volleyball Match and Skills Competition to find common ground.
With just two days to prepare, there wasn’t much time for detailed match plans. So for Team East Coach Nancy Dorsey of St. James Academy (Lexana, Kan.) and her charges, the focus in practice quickly became a fun chemistry experiment.
“We talked a lot in practice about how all-star games can sometimes be uncomfortable because the girls don’t know each other,” Dorsey said. “The crowd isn’t really sure who to cheer for. I told them the team that is the most comfortable is going to go out and be successful.”
The estimated 3,000 fans who attended the all-star match at CenturyLink Center Friday night lustily rooted for both the East and West squads, making the event fun for everyone in the building.
It didn’t really matter that Team East swept Team West 25-16, 25-21, 25-23.
The match featured 14 players who were named to the American Family Insurance ALL-USA Teams this fall, including five first-team players led by Player of the Year Audrianna Fitzmorris, who plays for Dorsey at St. James.
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East MVP Regan Pittman of St. Thomas Aquinas (Overland Park, Kan.) said everyone coming together was the best part.
“I just think it’s all about playing as a team,” said, Pittman, who was second-team ALL-USA. “I’m a big believer in if the team wants to win, they’re going to win. At first we were a little hesitant, but then everyone got comfortable with each other and we became a team.”
Pittman, a Minnesota recruit, led all players with five total blocks, including one solo rejection. She also had an attack percentage of .364 with four kills and no attack errors.
West team outside hitter Khalia Lanier (20) attacks in at the Under Armour All-American Volleyball Game. (Photo: Steven Branscombe, USA TODAY Sports)
Alexis Hart of Truman (Independence, Mo.) led the East squad with eight kills, and Khalia Lanier of Xavier College Prep (Phoenix) matched that total for the West team. Lanier, who was first-team ALL-USA, also was recently selected the Gatorade National Player of the Year.
ALL-USA second-team choice Morgan Hentz of Notre Dame Acdemy (Park Hills, Ky.) was the West MVP. The Stanford recruit – one of four who participated in the event – had match-high totals of 28 reception attempts 12 defensive digs.
Also for the West, Ronika Stone, an ALL-USA first-teamer from Valley Christian (San Jose, Calif.), had six kills, seven points and an attack percentage of .385; Gia Milano of Romeo (Mich.) had five kills and 6.5 points; and Kathryn Plummer, an ALL-USA second-teamer from Aliso Niguel (Alison Viejo, Calif.), had four kills and 4.5 points.
For the East, Molly Haggerty, an ALL-USA first-teamer from St. Francis (Wheaton, Ill.), had three kills and 3.5 points.
Dorsey said both teams played well but, win or lose, she wanted to make sure Team East had a good experience together.
“I said ‘You guys just need to have fun, it’s all about having fun,’” Dorsey said. “You’re all good, you all deserve to be here. Enjoy every moment because this might be the last time you play a game at this level where there’s really no pressure attached to it.”
In the skills competitions, it was the second year in a row a Nebraska recruit won one of the contests. Hunter Atherton of Dublin (Ohio) Coffman won the best setter competition by scoring 13 points in the timed competition.
That score topped Florida recruit and East teammate Cheyenne Huskey (Columbus, Texas), who had seven. Penn State recruit and West team setter Kristin Krause of Parkland (Allentown, Pa.) was third with five points.
At the 2014 Under Armour event in Oklahoma City, current Nebraska freshman Mikaela Foecke of Fort Madison, Iowa, won the hardest hitter competition. On Friday, Lanier, a USC recruit, won that event with a best swing that went 57 mph.
East team setter Hunter Atherton (9) sets to middle blocker Regan Pittman (27) (Photo: Steven Branscombe, USA TODAY Sports)
Atherton said she was nervous about the set challenge finals because she had the lowest score of the three qualifiers.
“I was really nervous but it ended up going well for me, so I was excited,” Atherton said.
East coach Dorsey, who had two of her own players on the roster – ALL-USA setter Jenna Gray and Fitzmorris – said how Atherton plays impressed her both in practice and during the sets.
“I was so impressed with her,” Dorsey said “We’re all about hustle, we love girls who hustle. As far as what stood out most for her was that.
“She had a play in practice today where she dove onto the concrete and everybody was like ‘No’. She maybe bruised her elbow a little bit in the process, but I love that about her. I think she’s got great things ahead of her.”
East team middle blocker Audriana Fitzmorris was the ALL-USA Player of the Year. (Photo: Steven Branscombe, USA TODAY Sports)
Dorsey also said it was a treat for her to have one last chance to coach her St. James Academy players who both are headed to Stanford next season.
“Jenna and Fitz have been very special to my husband and I the last four years,” Dorsey said. “Not just because they’re such good players but they’re such good people and I’m going to miss them.”
Friday’s match was just the start of a busy weekend for Atherton, who was set to leave for the Omaha airport at 4 a.m. to catch a flight back to Columbus to be in a cousin’s wedding.
That also means she will have to miss Saturday’s NCAA Division I championship match between her future team Nebraska against Texas. That match is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. EST at CenturyLink Center and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Atherton said she was able to watch Nebraska’s 3-1 semifinal round victory against Kansas Thursday night, so she now has an even better understanding of what being a Husker will be all about.
Her best memory, though, was the time she got to spend getting to know some players she likely will be on the opposite side of the net the next four or five years.
“The girls on our team were amazing and we had so much fun together,” Atherton said. “We’ve only been here a couple of days, but it seems like it’s been longer since we’ve done so much together and we’ve had a lot of fun.”