Player of the Year
Regan Harp
SCHOOL Fayetteville
POSITION Outside Hitter
CLASS Senior
HEIGHT 6-1
NOTABLE Earned all-state honors and was named the state tournament Most Valuable Player in leading the Lady Bulldogs to their fourth straight state title. ... Named All-Arkansas Preps Player of the Year ... Signed to play at Central Arkansas. ... Moved from the middle hitter position to outside this season and led the state with 587 kills per Max Preps to go with 33 aces, 43 total blocks and 274 digs.
QUOTABLE "That's what I was shooting for. We have three. Why not four? That's the biggest thing. It's crazy that not the same team, but the same program can win four times in a row. Playing middle for most of my life, being the big girl going on the outside, I knew it was going to be more of a responsibility just because when there's out of system balls it's mostly coming to you. You just have to be the person the team can depend on. I'll be able to take a lot of leadership skills that I've learned over these years and especially this year."
-- Paul Boyd
Coach of the Year
Jessica Phelan
SCHOOL Fayetteville
NOTABLE Guided the Lady Bulldogs to their seventh state title since 2012 and fourth straight 6A title this season. ... Led Fayetteville to 11 finals in 19 seasons at the helm. ... Played volleyball at the University of Arkansas where she earned All-SEC honors and was named the school's first All-American, earning second-team honors in 1997.
QUOTABLE "I think one of the joys of coaching high school volleyball is that every year has this new set of people, challenges, joys and I think going into this year it was like all these kids who had really toiled and waited their turn for the opportunity to be varsity starters or to embrace the role they were in. As a coach, the extent to which these kids embraced that process and also had the chemistry they needed to be successful was really cool to watch. They just kept working and believed in themselves up until the very end and I think that was one of the reasons this year was so special for me. That resiliency in terms of they believe they could get the job done."
-- Paul Boyd
Newcomer of the Year
Chloe Blessing
SCHOOL Shiloh Christian
POSITION Outside Hitter
CLASS Sophomore
HEIGHT 5-9
NOTABLE Earned all-state honors and helped the Lady Saints to finish as Class 4A state runner-up. ... Finished with 474 kills, fourth in the state in kills per Max Preps, to go with 49 aces, 29 total blocks and 284 digs.
QUOTABLE "Probably my team and how they welcomed me [stood out this season], me being the youngest especially playing as much as I did my first year. They were super welcoming and encouraging, always made it a fun atmosphere."
-- Paul Boyd
The Team
Name School Ht Pos. Class
Bella Bonanno Shiloh Christian 5-6 Libero Jr.
NOTABLE Earned All-Arkansas Preps. ... Finished with 90 aces, which ranked fifth in the state per Max Preps and 4.4 digs per set (494 total) to also rank fifth per Max Preps. ... Signed to play for Ole Miss. ... Helped the Lady Saints to a Class 4A state runner-up finish.
Reese Ricketts Harrison 6-2 Outside Hitter Sr.
NOTABLE Finished with 447 kills, which ranked sixth in the state per Max Preps, to go with 30 aces, 37 total blocks, 220 digs.
Victoria Otter Bentonville 6-2 Middle Hitter Jr.
NOTABLE Hit .296 with 350 kills and 121 total blocks, which tied for second in the state per Max Preps. ... Earned all-state honors and All-Arkansas Preps after being named NWA Democrat Gazette Newcomer of the Year a year ago.
Haley Thomas Siloam Springs 5-7 Setter Soph.
NOTABLE Averaged 7.9 assists per set and 48 aces for the season. ... Named 5A-West Conference Setter of the Year and earned all-state honors.
Piper Batie Gravette 6-1 Outside Hitter Soph.
NOTABLE Earned all-state honors and hit .351, which ranked fifth in the state per Max Preps and finished with 370 kills, 4.9 assists per set and 113 aces, tops in the state per Max Preps.
Nandhini Praveen Bentonville West 5-3 Setter Sr.
NOTABLE Earned all-state honors averaging 7.5 assists per set and 3.3 digs per set along with 45 service aces.
Quincy Schaffer Fayetteville 5-9 Setter Sr.
NOTABLE Helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to their fourth consecutive state title. ... Dished out 962 assists (10.0 per set), which ranked fifth in the state per Max Preps to go with 46 aces, 48 total blocks and 251 digs (2.6 per set).
-- Paul Boyd
Regan Harp of Fayetteville, seen Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, is the NWA Democrat-Gazette Volleyball Player of the Year. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan, seen Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, is the NWA Democrat-Gazette Volleyball Coach of the Year. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)
Chloe Blessing of Shiloh Christian, seen Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, is the NWA Democrat-Gazette Volleyball Newcomer of the Year. Visit nwaonline.com/photo for today's photo gallery. (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Andy Shupe)