By: Hyde Moua

As of May 2nd, 2024, these are the top 3 men’s volleyball national teams. Currently Poland holds the number one spot for 2024 with 421.14 points, beating the number 2 spot by 30.23 points.

Poland’s Men’s National Volleyball Team continued to show their formidable talent on stage. Led by Bartosz Kurek, Michał Kubiak, and Łukasz Żygadło who have been playing for Poland since 2005-2008. Emerging stars Wilfredo León, Kamil Semeniuk, and Jakub Kochanowski have been playing for Poland since 2019-2022, and have displayed exceptional teamwork and skillful play throughout the season. With their powerful serves, precise blocks, and dynamic attacks they secured victories against top-ranked opponents, securing their status as contenders for major titles. Their relentless training and determination has brought them to success, earning fans worldwide. As they continue to raise the bar in the sport, Poland’s men’s volleyball team has remained a force not to be underestimated.

In the number two spot of 2024 is USA with 390.91 points. USA Men’s National Volleyball team is known for its athleticism and competitive spirit on the stage. Having a team of seasoned veterans and newcomers, the team shows strength, agility, and strategy. They consistently demonstrate exceptional skill in serving, blocking, and attacking, earning respect from opponents worldwide. With a strong focus on teamwork and determination, they have achieved victories in prestigious tournaments such as the Olympics, and World Championships. The USA Men’s Volleyball Team continues to inspire audiences with their passion and dedication to succeed.

In the number three spot of 2024 is Italy with 342.43 points. Italy’s Men’s National Volleyball Team has a rich legacy of success and excellence in the sport. With a blend of old and new talents, the team shows remarkable skill and tactical abilities on the international stage. Led by excellent coaches, they show precision in every aspect of the game, from powerful serves to strategic blocks. With strong teamwork and discipline, they challenge top-ranked opponents, gaining admiration from fans worldwide. Their dedication to the sport and pursuit of victory has secured Italy’s position as an excellent contender in many tournaments.

In my opinion, I think all of these teams are amazing and they all have proved it to the world already. There are many up and coming top teams that I am sure will impress us and I can’t wait to see how well they will compete in future competitions and tournaments.

By: Grace Blumer-LaMotte

The Highland Park volleyball season started on August 22nd, 2022. It continued until October 18th, 2022, when they lost in the semi-finals against Two Rivers High School. 

Varsity consisted of these players: Grace Blumer-LaMotte (Senior, #10), Grace Adrian (Senior #12), Sunshine Vang (Senior #3)), Bella Kottke (Senior #18), Ayana Bougie (Senior #13), Leila Hagedorn (Senior #27), Kate Reubish (Junior #11), Alyssa Ramos (Junior #2), Molly Hanley (Junior #9), Ella Johnson (Junior 1), Mary Koch (Sophomore #14), Ella Sutherland (Sophomore #6). Varsity is coached by Sonje Odegard (Head).

The Two Rivers game was the end of the great season that Highland had. They lost the match 3-1. 

Highland went the season with 14 wins and 11 losses. 

Team Attack Stats: Highland got a combined total of 722 kills throughout the whole season. They had 432 attack errors, 2,330 total attack attempts, hit a .124 hitting percentage, and had 6.4 kills per set.

Team Serve Stats: Highland had a total of 217 service aces, 129 service errors, 1.9 service aces per set, and a .917 service percentage.

Team Defensive Stats: Highland got a combined total of 1,121 digs, averaging 9.9 digs per set.

General Team Stats: Highland had 12 ball-handling errors and played 113 sets.

Bella Kottke, the starting middle hitter, had a total of 233 kills this year, the highest number of kills on the team. Kottke also had 81 attack errors. She hit a .303 attack percentage and averaged 3.1 kills per set. She also had 21 service aces.

Kate Reubish, a right-side hitter, had a total of 130 kills this year, 104 attack errors, a .059 hitting percentage, and averaged 1.8 kills her set. She also had 17 service aces.

Molly Hanley, a right-side hitter, had a total of 121 kills this year, 104 attack errors, a .038 hitting percentage, and averaged 1.6 kills per set. She also had 41 service aces.

Mary Koch, another middle hitter, had a total of 95 kills this year, 48 attack errors, a .164 hitting percentage, and averaged 1.3 kills per set. She also had 3 service aces.

Ella Sutherland, an outside hitter, had a total of 59 kills this year, 43 attack errors, a .054 hitting percentage, and averaged 1.1 kills per set. She also had 3 service aces.

Ayana Bougie, the setter, had a total of 46 kills this year, 10 attack errors, a .228 hitting percentage, and averaged 0.6 kills per set. She also had 41 service aces.

Ella Johnson, another outside hitter, had a total of 27 kills this year, 31 attack errors, and averaged 1.0 kills per set.

Grace Adrian, another outside hitter, had a total of 8 kills this year, 6 attack errors, a .061 hitting percentage, and averaged 1.0 kills per set.

Leila Hagedorn, another right-side hitter, had a total of 3 kills this year, 5 attack errors, and averaged 0.4 kills per set.

Grace Blumer-LaMotte was unfortunately out for the season due to a season-ending injury to her shins.

By: Grace Blumer-LaMotte

Highland Park High School went against Central High School in volleyball on Thursday, October 6th, 2022. C-Squad and Junior Varsity played at 5:30 pm, while Varsity played at 7 pm.

All 3 teams of Highland won against Central that night. 

Varsity formally goes to 5 sets, if needed. The first team to win 3 sets wins the match. Highland lost the first set but came back strong and won the next three sets, leading them to victory. Almost all of the sets were very close, only having a few point differences.

Varsity consists of these players: Grace Blumer-LaMotte (Senior), Grace Adrian (Senior), Sunshine Vang (Senior), Bella Kottke (Senior), Ayana Bougie (Senior), Leila Hagedorn (Senior), Kate Reubish (Junior), Alyssa Ramos (Junior), Molly Hanley (Junior), Ella Johnson (Junior), Mary Kock (Sophomore), Ella Sutherland (Sophomore). 

Bella Kottke, the middle hitter of HPSH, had a huge thirteen kills. Mary Koch, another middle hitter of HPSH, had hit .500. Molly Hanley, an outside hitter, led the team with four aces, with three in a row in the third set. Ayana Bougie, the setter, had seventeen digs. Molly Hanley and Alyssa Ramos, the HPSH libero, both had fourteen digs each. Kate Reubish, a hitter of HPSH, and Ayana Bougie had zero service errors. Bella Kottke also led with five big blocks at the net.

The whole team served with amazing accuracy of 92.3%. The team also had a hitting percentage of .210. 

The student section was growing as the game went on. There were a good hundred students in the bleachers. The theme for the game was “White Out” due to the school colors of Highland Park Senior High, red and white. The student section shouted and cheered for all of the small victories during the game such as kills, digs, blocks, etc. They would chant various different things like “We Are The Scotties, The Mighty Mighty Scotties”, “Scoreboard”, and just overall cheering for certain players. Once the Scots won against Central the student section swarmed the court and cheered on the whole team. 

On Thursday, October 13th, 2022, Highland Park Senior High took on Central High school at Central for a second time. C-Squad and Junior Varsity played at 5:30 pm, while Varsity played at 7 pm.

All 3 teams of Highland won against Central that night. 

Varsity formally goes to 5 sets, if needed. The first team to win 3 sets wins the match. Highland lost the first set (21-25) but came back strong and won the second set (25-18). It went on for another 3 sets, Central winning the fourth set (21-25) and Highland winning the final set (15-12), leading them to victory. Almost all of the sets were very close, only having a few point differences.

Varsity consists of these players: Grace Blumer-LaMotte (Senior, #10), Grace Adrian (Senior #12), Sunshine Vang (Senior #3)), Bella Kottke (Senior #18), Ayana Bougie (Senior #13), Leila Hagedorn (Senior #27), Kate Reubish (Junior #11), Alyssa Ramos (Junior #2), Molly Hanley (Junior #9), Ella Johnson (Junior 1), Mary Koch (Sophomore #14), Ella Sutherland (Sophomore #6). Varsity is coached by Sonje Odegard (Head).

Kill Stats: Bella Kottke, the middle hitter, led the team with 22 kills. Kills are when the ball hits the ground without anyone touching it. She also had a hitting percentage of .326. Kate Reubish, a right-side hitter, had 15 kills. Mary Koch, another middle hitter, had 11 kills. Molly Hanley, a right-side hitter, had 7 kills. Ayana Bougie-Martinez, the setter, had 5 kills. Finally, Ella Sutherland, an outside, had 3 kills. Overall the team had 63 total kills.

Serve Stats: Alyssa Ramos, the libero, had 8 serve aces. Serve aces are when either none of the players touch the ball when it goes over the net, or if someone shanks the ball off of first contact. Ayana Bougie-Martinez had 4 serve aces. Molly Hanley had 3 serve aces. Sunshine Vang, a defensive specialist, had 2 serve aces. Overall the team had 18 serve-aces.

Defense Stats: Alyssa Ramos led the team with 22 digs. Bella Kottke had 18 digs. Molly Hanley had 12 digs. Ayana Bougie-Martinez had 8 digs. Sunshine Vang had 7 digs. Kate Reubish had 4 digs. Ella Sutherland and Mary Koch both had 2 digs. Overall the team had 75 digs total.

Overall, volleyball team dominated Central this year.