Published: November 08, 2009 12:17 am      

LOGANLAND VOLLEYBALL: To Victor goes the spoils

Loganport senior is volleyball Player of the Year

Logansport’s volleyball team put together its best season in nearly two decades with its 24 wins this fall.

Leading the way was 6-foot-1 senior outside hitter Kelsey Victor, who led the Berries with 370 kills and was second in the tradition-rich North Central Conference in kills per game (4.0) and fourth in hitting percentage (.383).

“I really enjoyed playing with the girls,” Victor said. “I loved them and the memories I had with them are unbelievable. I’ll never forget my senior year.”

“Kelsey had a great season for us,” Logan coach Jamee Jones said. “She’s set the standard for the girls to come. … She set it pretty high for these girls, but we now know the confidence is there where it had been lacking in the past. They know that they can win.”

Jones said Victor showed good leadership skills this season in helping the Berries to their 24-8 record and third-place finish in the NCC, their best conference finish in years.

“She was a good team leader. She was a talker out there on the court for us. She helped keep the girls up and keep them motivated,” the Logan coach said. “She’s a good role model for the girls on the net. She worked with some of our girls because she had played mid for three years prior to this season, and she helped our middle hitters this year in helping with their footwork and moving. She helped out those younger girls a lot.”

Victor also had 54 blocks, 80 digs and 43 aces this season en route to earning All-NCC honors this season.

“Her passing has improved so we would pull her back to take passes on serve receive. She had good leadership there,” Jones said. “We had her serve this year too. She could hit it hard and did a good job of placing and trying to get the other team to move on her serves.”

Victor is set to sign a national letter-of-intent to play volleyball at Valparaiso University on Wednesday.

“I went to one of their games and I went to their camp last year and I loved it,” Victor said. “It seemed perfect for me and is everything that I wanted. ... I’m pumped.”

For the third straight season, the Berries were knocked out of sectional play by Harrison this year. This time around it was in the sectional final by three games — the first of which was a very narrow loss.

“I wish we would have kept our momentum after losing that first one instead of getting down on ourselves,” Victor said. “The first couple minutes proved we could have beat them.”

Logansport’s 24 wins this season were its most since its 32-win season in 1992, the year the Berries reached the semistate.

Victor joins her brother K.C. Victor as an All-Loganland Player of the Year. K.C. was a 2007 All-Loganland Boys Basketball Co-Player of the Year.

The following are capsules of the rest of the 2009 All-Loganland volleyball team.

Allie DeFries, Winamac

DeFries, a 5-11 junior outside hitter, led the Warriors in kills (495), blocks (100) and aces (70). She added 168 digs.

DeFries was named the Midwest Conference Player of the Year and helped lead the Warriors to a 29-7 record, their first MWC title in 19 years and their second consecutive sectional championship.

“She deserves all of the accolades she’s getting because she’s put the time and effort into it — not just during the season, but in the offseason as well,” Winamac coach Cathy DeFries said.

Cathy DeFries is Allie’s mother.

“It’s been a crazy year. It’s been so much fun to have the opportunity and the privilege to coach my own daughter,” the Winamac coach said. “She’s come a long way. She started in second grade in Logansport with Greg Dominick. It’s been a long road, but it’s been worthwhile. Volleyball is a passion for both of us. I’m glad she enjoys it and I’m glad she does so well at it. It makes coaching so much more enjoyable.”

Cortney Hanson, Pioneer

Hanson led the Panthers in assists (657) and aces (96). The 5-5 sophomore setter added 56 kills and 148 digs.

Hanson helped lead the 27-10 Panthers to finish with a No. 8 ranking in Class A, a second-place finish in the MWC and a fourth consecutive sectional title.

Hanson was named an All-MWC performer.

“Cortney, in my opinion, is the best setter around,” Pioneer coach Rod Nies said. “She’s pretty quick to the ball and reacts pretty quick. And she’s got a really good topspin serve and a really nice jump float serve. She puts a lot of pressure on other teams back there with her serve. This is the second year in a row she’s led us in aces.

“I’m looking for a lot of great things out of her the next couple years. We should be a much more complete team. With her running the setter position, I look for a lot of big things out of her in the future.”

Abby Ropes, Cass

Ropes, a 5-9 junior middle hitter, averaged 3.2 kills, 2.0 blocks and 1.6 digs per game this season. She helped lead the 17-12 Kings win their first Mid-Indiana Conference title in 12 years and earned All-MIC honors in the process.

“She is a strong player who knows the game and can read, not only the floor well, but the other team as well,” Cass coach Cheryl Lane said. “Her volleyball IQ is higher than anyone I have ever coached. She just knows the game. Abby is an all-around player who could and would do whatever was asked of her. She is becoming a strong leader and her peers like and respect her. Abby continues to get better and she has a lot of potential she has not yet reached, but will get there. She is well deserving of this recognition.”

Katie Champion, Logansport

Champion led the NCC in aces (94) and aces per game (1.0) this season. The 5-11 sophomore outside hitter was seventh in kills per game (3.2) and had 295 kills on the season. She added 109 digs.

Champion was named an All-NCC performer.

“Katie really came on strong this year,” Jamee Jones said. “She had that confidence this year. I’m very happy with how she performed against some of these bigger teams we faced. She went out and played her game. You can’t ask for more from a sophomore.

“Her serve is just incredible. She’s been working on a floater serve now. ... She’s just going to keep improving.”

Kelsey Williams, Pioneer

Williams, a 5-7 junior middle hitter, led the Panthers in kills (228) and blocks (191). She added 87 digs and 38 aces.

Williams was named to the All-MWC team.

“She’s just very explosive,” Nies said. “She’s 5-7, maybe a short 5-8, but she has really long arms and plays a lot taller than she really is. Her natural position is left-side or right-side hitter, but we put her in the middle because she blocks so well.

“Last year going into the regional she tweaked her knee coming off knee reconstruction, and that pretty much did us in for the regional. She’s just a very important piece of the puzzle for us. She has a nice jump float serve. She’s a very dynamic hitter with very good hops. She’s just a really good all-around player.”

• Beau Wicker is the sports editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at (574) 732-5113 or beau.wicker@pharostribune.com