Mount Vernon’s Chloe Meester is the 2024 state volleyball player of the year

The most harrowing moment of Chloe Meester’s senior volleyball season didn’t come during the stresses of the postseason.

It didn’t come during a match at all.

Rather, before a match.

Mount Vernon was warming up for a home dual against archrival Solon on Sept. 10. As Meester made her approach on a jump serve, a wayward ball rolled under her as she landed.

Meester went down, and the gym went quiet.

“It hurt so bad at first,” Meester said Monday, shortly after she had been named as the Iowa Girls Coaches Association state player of the year.

“One of my teammates has an ice bath at her house, so I stuck it in there for about 30 minutes after the match. For two or three weeks, it bothered me. I wasn’t jumping as high, and I was putting so much pressure on my other ankle that it started to hurt, too.”

A 6-foot-3 outside hitter, Meester gradually healed, and eventually put an exclamation point on a brilliant high school career, leading the Mustangs (45-4) to the Class 3A championship.

“I’ve been dreaming of winning one of these since I was a little kid,” she said. “To finally get it in my senior year, I’ve waited my whole life for this.”

During the Meester era, Mount Vernon (149-28) advanced to four state tournaments, advancing one round each year. The Mustangs swept their way through the 2024 postseason, sweeping mighty Western Christian in the championship match.

The University of Louisville signee averaged 4.83 kills per set this season, posting a career-best .461 kill efficiency. She was the team’s top non-libero digger (2.02 per set).

Meester concludes her career with 2,071 kills, 947 digs and 180 aces.

“I wanted to be a setter when I was younger, and I wanted to get better at passing,” Meester said. “If I wanted to play six rotations, I had to get better.”

Meester headlines the eight-player Elite all-state team. Sydney Maue, another Mount Vernon senior, is on the squad, along with Bailey Boeve of Hinton, Isabelle Kremer of Pleasant Valley, Delaney Miller of Ankeny Centennial, Katie Quick of Ankeny Christian and Eddyville EBF twins Kate and Molly Shafer.

Kremer was the 5A player of the year, Katie Scheckel of Pella in 4A, Meester in 3A, Molly Shafer in 2A, Quick in 1A.

Eleven area players are first-team all-staters in their respective classes.

Meester, Maue and Sydney Huber represent Mount Vernon on the premier 3A team.

Maue, an Arkansas recruit, transferred from Center Point-Urbana before this season; Huber came in from Cedar Rapids Xavier a year prior.

“Both of them made such a big impact on our team,” Meester said. “Maue gave us another big hitter from the other side; (Huber) is so good about putting the ball where you need it.”

Libby Fandel of Cedar Rapids Xavier becomes a three-time 4A first-team pick and is joined on that team by Averie Lower of Clear Creek Amana and Carlee Webber of Marion.

The Mount Vernon duo is joined on the 3A first team by Gracie Hoskins of Center Point-Urbana, Jayden Kuper of Monticello and Dakota Mitchell of Mid-Prairie.

Alexie Hogan of Dyersville Beckman is a 2A first-teamer; Kruiz Ewoldt of North Tama likewise in 1A.

Coaches of the year are Amber Hall of Pleasant Valley (5A), Lauren Boatman of Sioux City Heelan (4A), Maggie Willems of Mount Vernon (3A), Gladys Genskow of EBF (2A) and Michele Quick of Ankeny Christian (1A).

2024 ALL-STATE VOLLEYBALL TEAMS

Iowa Girls Coaches Association

Elite Team

Bailey Boeve, jr., Hinton

Isabelle Kremer, jr., Pleasant Valley

Sydney Maue, sr., Mount Vernon

Chloe Meester, sr., Mount Vernon

Delaney Miller, sr., Ankeny Centennial

Katie Quick, sr., Ankeny Christian

Kate Shafer, sr., Eddyville EBF

Molly Shafer, sr., Eddyville EBF

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Chloe Meester, sr., Mount Vernon

Class 5A

FIRST TEAM

Reagan Hanfelt, sr., Ankeny

Grace Hannam, sr., Cedar Falls

Isabelle Kremer, jr., Pleasant Valley

Delaney Miller, sr., Ankeny Centennial

Aspen Nelsen, sr., Indianola

Jaeden Pratt, sr., Ankeny Centennial

Ella Rogers, sr., West Des Moines Dowling

Logan Vogt, soph., Waukee Northwest

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Isabelle Kremer, sr., Pleasant Valley

COACH OF THE YEAR

Amber Hall, Pleasant Valley

SECOND TEAM

Baileigh Carlsen, sr., Ankeny

Annalise Grant, sr., West Des Moines Dowling

Asta Hildebrand, sr., Iowa City Liberty

Camryn Overton, sr., Indianola

Gabriella Ragins, sr., Pleasant Valley

Kamryn Scheib, sr., Ankeny

Carly Wazac, sr., Cedar Rapids Prairie

Anni Wedgbury, jr., Cedar Falls

THIRD TEAM

Jaida Bell, sr., Johnston

Cambel Drapeau, jr., Dubuque Senior

Carsyn Kelley, jr., Pleasant Valley

Kaylie Klein, soph., West Des Moines Dowling

Kelsey Klesner, sr., Linn-Mar

Kennedy Krecklow, soph., Cedar Falls

Mya Lei-Butters, jr., Ankeny Centennial

Edie Miller, soph., Iowa City Liberty

Malia Rogers, soph., Waukee

Stella Smith, sr., Pleasant Valley

Avery Vogt, jr., Waukee Northwest

Kaelyn Wieland, jr., West Des Moines Valley

Class 4A

FIRST TEAM

Libby Fandel, sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier

Maliyah Hacker, sr., Sioux City Heelan

Abbey Hayes, sr., North Scott

Maddie LaFleur, sr., Sioux City Heelan

Brooke Larsen, sr., Lewis Central

Averie Lower, jr., Clear Creek Amana

Katie Scheckel, jr., Pella

Carlee Webber, sr., Marion

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Katie Scheckel, jr., Pella

COACH OF THE YEAR

Lauren Boatman, Sioux City Heelan

SECOND TEAM

Payton Askelsen, sr., Ballard

AshleeKay Christensen, sr., Carlisle

Gwen Farley, soph., Dallas Center Grimes

Charley Hernandez, sr., Glenwood

Sydney Light, sr., Carlisle

Macie Lupkes, jr., Cedar Rapids Xavier

McKenzie Moeller, jr., North Scott

Madelyn Roenfeld, sr., Lewis Central

THIRD TEAM

Emee Allard, jr., North Scott

Addison Allen, sr., North Scott

Kai Arens, jr., Bondurant-Farrar

Brenna Baumgardner, jr., Ballard

Elle Hatlevig, fr., Norwalk

Emily Henderson, jr., Clear Creek Amana

Ireland Jackson, jr., Sioux City Heelan

Addison Kleis, sr., Sioux City Heelan

Ava Lloyd, jr., Sioux City Heelan

Taylor Rexroth, sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier

Bre VanDenTop, jr., Sergeant Bluff-Luton

London Warmuth, sr., Adel ADM

Class 3A

FIRST TEAM

Ella Derrer, jr., Davenport Assumption

Hadley Hardersen, sr., Des Moines Christian

Gracie Hoskins, sr., Center Point-Urbana

Sydney Huber, sr., Mount Vernon

Jayden Kuper, sr., Monticello

Sydney Maue, sr., Mount Vernon

Chloe Meester, sr., Mount Vernon

Dakota Mitchell, sr., Mid-Prairie

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Chloe Meester, sr., Mount Vernon

COACH OF THE YEAR

Maggie Willems, Mount Vernon

SECOND TEAM

Rachel Borwick, jr., Nevada

Jovi Evans, jr., Mid-Prairie

Avery Knoop, sr., Union Community

Sophie Sander, jr., Anamosa

Ellie Schubert, sr., Davenport Assumption

Teya Speltz, sr., Van Meter

Scarlett Winterfeld, jr., Western Christian

Laney Wolfswinkle, sr., Cherokee

THIRD TEAM

Grace Erwin, sr., Solon

Morgan Kooiman, fr., Western Christian

Brooke Krogmann, sr., West Delaware

Gaby Morales, sr., West Liberty

Anna Roling, sr., Dubuque Wahlert

Margo Schuiteman, sr., Sioux Center

Paige Schurbon, sr., Mount Vernon

Kaylie Simons, jr., Carroll Kuemper

FOURTH TEAM (area only)

Sophie Buysse, sr., West Liberty

Hannah Cantwell, sr., West Delaware

Callie Huber, sr., Mid-Prairie

Reese Neuhaus, sr., Anamosa

Class 2A

FIRST TEAM

Bailey Boeve, jr., Hinton

Clara Hoegh, sr., Boyden-Hull

Alexie Hogan, sr., Dyersville Beckman

Channing Johnson, jr., Denver

Bailey Mullihan, jr., Denver

Ava Salvo, sr., South Hardin

Kate Shafer, sr., Eddyville EBF

Molly Shafer, sr., Eddyville EBF

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Molly Shafer, sr., Eddyville EBF

COACH OF THE YEAR

Gladys Genskow, Eddyville EBF

SECOND TEAM

Jordyn Aeschliman, sr., West Lyon

Taylor Buhr, jr., Wapsie Valley

Shannon Moorman, sr., Dike-New Hartford

Grace Mullihan, jr., Denver

Reese Naeve, jr., Iowa City Regina

Izzy Norton, sr., Dike-New Hartford

Katelyn Schmitt, sr., Dyersville Beckman

Trevyn Smith, sr., Ackley AGWSR

THIRD TEAM

Sydney Blackmore, sr., Ridge View

Dennie Boogerd, sr., Boyden-Hull

Bella Buseman, sr., Aplington-Parkersburg

Chloe Huisman, sr., Pella Christian

Peyton Klooster, sr., Aplington-Parkersburg

Alli Sheldahl, sr., South Hardin

Lacey Taylor, jr., Eddyville EBF

Avery Jones, sr., Wapsie Valley

FOURTH TEAM (area only)

Alli Scherbring, sr., Dyersville Beckman

Class 1A

FIRST TEAM

Zoey Barnes, sr., Janesville

Carley Craighead, sr., Ankeny Christian

Kruiz Ewoldt, jr., North Tama

Presley Myers, jr., Fort Madison Holy Trinity

Macey Nehring, sr., Ankeny Christian

Katie Quick, sr., Ankeny Christian

Elly Henderson, sr., Oakland Riverside

Ava Falk, sr., Saint Ansgar

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Katie Quick, sr., Ankeny Christian

COACH OF THE YEAR

Michele Quick, Ankeny Christian

SECOND TEAM

Grace Farnsworth, jr., Conrad BCLUW

Kinze Hinders, sr., Newell-Fonda

Addison Hochstetler, jr., North Tama

Jacey Johnson, jr., Saint Ansgar

Adalyn Kruse, soph., Fort Madison Holy Trinity

Lindsay Kruse, jr., Saint Ansgar

Ayla Richardson, sr., Oakland Riverside

Anna Weathers, sr., Ankeny Christian

THIRD TEAM

Kennedy Brandt, jr., Gladbrook-Reinbeck

Lexi Clendenen, jr., Southeast Warren

Addy Haning, sr., Sidney

Rowan Jacobi, jr., Springville

Cassie Nason, sr., Conrad BCLUW

Tayah Pollock, soph., Janesville

Bentley Rone, jr., Oakland Riverside

Evelyn Stoakes, jr., East Mills

FOURTH TEAM (area only)

Malia Yoder, sr., Hillcrest Academy

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com