When a team makes a deep run into the postseason, they are generally rewarded with plenty of individual honors. That was certainly the case for the Humboldt Cubs after their run to the state volleyball tournament.
All season, the Cubs were led by Annalise Whitcomb and the Tri-Valley League certainly took notice as Whitcomb was named to the league’s first team this week.
Whitcomb ended her decorated Cub career by breaking five school records during her senior season and she led the league in ace serves and assists. She was also a very capable hitter and led the league in hitting percentage for a setter.
If Humboldt needed a big play or a spark this season during their run to the state tournament, the odds were good that Whitcomb would be involved.
The senior ran the Cub offensive attack from the setter position and distributed the ball to a wide variety of hitters all season. She also started every Cub match at the service line as Humboldt coach Terry Meadows relied on Whitcomb to get the team off to a great start in every match.
as Humboldt coach Terry Meadows relied on Whitcomb to get the team off to a great start in every match.
Next season, Whitcomb will take her talents to the Fort Scott Community College volleyball program and leave some big shoes for Meadows to fill.
One player that has shown she is plenty capable of being the team’s catalyst on the court for the next couple of seasons is Aricah McCall.
The talented sophomore was a versatile star for the Cubs this season and joined Whitcomb on the All-Tri-Valley First Team.
She finished third in the league in ace serves, sixth in hitting percentage and tenth in digs with 170.
“Both of those girls worked very hard for us this year and contributed a ton to this team,” Meadows said.
Also the sophomore becomes an upperclassman next season and will be counted on to help keep building on the success that Whitcomb and fellow-seniors Tilar Wells and Kira McReynolds have achieved.
The Cubs return a big chunk of their core around McCall and one of those other key returners is All-Tri-Valley Honorable Mention hitter Lizzie Myers.
Myers led the team with a .233 hitting percentage and could be asked to fill an even larger role as a senior next season.
“She really stepped her game up this season,” Meadows said. “I was excited to see that. We will rely on her leadership next year as a senior.”
The graduation of Whitcomb and her senior class is the end of an era to a degree that culminated in the school’s first state berth since the 1980s, but with players like McCall, Myers, Sydney Houk and Kaylie Johnson, there is no reason that the next era would be any less hopeful.
