Ark Valley News - Junior receives postseason volleyball honors

Ellie Shank reaches to return the ball in an Oct. 20 substate game against Hays.

Junior receives postseason volleyball honors
By Randy Fisher
Last Updated: November 15, 2018

The 2018 volleyball season is over, and Valley Center High School's Ellie Shank, Emily Kemp and Carlie Claussen have received postseason honors.

A junior setter and outside hitter, Shank recently received honors from both the Kansas Volleyball Association and the Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League II coaches.

Shank was named honorable mention on the KVA's Class 5A All-State Team.

Hanna Shelton was the last Hornet to receive a KVA all-state nod. She was honorable mention in 2013 after being on the second team in 2012.

It was a three-peat this year for Shank. She was named a first-team, all-league performer for the third consecutive year.

"Ellie performs several skills well and can play any position asked of her on the court," Valley Center coach Melissa Segovia said. "She is one of the most versatile players that I have had the opportunity to work with on the volleyball court. She has the ability to read the defense and knows where to place the ball to score, whether it be herself or putting her teammates in position to score.

"Ellie led the team in kills with 295 and hitting efficiency with .309. She also plays tremendous defense with 368 digs on the season."

Kemp, a senior, and Claussen, a junior, were named honorable mention all-AVCTL II.

"I am proud of Ellie, Carlie and Emily on being recognized by other coaches in the league for their efforts this season," Segovia said.

Kemp also received honorable mention last year.

"Emily earned the libero jersey for the entire season by working hard on improving her defense," Segovia said. "She was a leader both on and off the court, pushing her teammates daily and encouraging them to get the task accomplished.

"She had an outstanding 507 digs on the season, many times making the play look easy by getting to the ball so quickly. She also led the team in passing with 2.21 on the season."

This is Claussen's first time on the all-league team. She led the Hornets in serving at 98.45 percent and in assists with 460.

"Carlie worked very hard to improve her setting this season," Segovia said. "She has a lot of passion for the game and worked to put her teammates in the best scoring position. She has stepped into a leadership role and pushed her teammates in practice daily, expecting them to do their best in all aspects of the game."

Valley Center finished 4-6 in league play and 22-16 overall, losing to Andover in the substate finals.

Maize South sophomore Laurel Jones was named most valuable player.

Former VCHS coach Holly Avalos was coach of the year. She led Andover to a league title and a substate championship.