The Gazette’s 2024 all-area volleyball team

Maggie Willems knew the emotions would pour out at the end of the season, regardless of how it ended.

The feeling that she would not tolerate from herself would be relief.

“I made the expectation of myself that I wasn’t going to let that happen,” Willems said. “That whole week of the state tournament, I felt immense joy, fulfillment and satisfaction.”

Burdened by a high bar of outside expectations, Mount Vernon’s volleyball team fulfilled its destiny in dominating fashion last month. The Mustangs (45-4) swept their way to the Class 3A state championship.

Postseason awards season ends today: Willems is the 2024 Gazette area coach of the year. Mount Vernon senior Chloe Meester is the area player of the year for the second consecutive season.

Signed with the University of Louisville, Meester headlines a 14-player all-area team, which includes 11 seniors.

Two Mount Vernon teammates — Sydney Maue and Sydney Huber — join her, along with Cedar Rapids Xavier’s Libby Fandel, Iowa City Liberty’s Asta Hildebrand, Dyersville Beckman’s Alexie Hogan, Center Point-Urbana’s Gracie Hoskins, West Delaware’s Brooke Krogmann, Monticello’s Jayden Kuper, Clear Creek Amana’s Averie Lower, Mid-Prairie’s Dakota Mitchell, Iowa City Regina’s Reese Naeve, Anamosa’s Sophie Sander and Marion’s Carlee Webber.

Meester and Fandel were selected for the third time. Hildebrand, Huber and Mitchell are two-time picks.

“Chloe is the best I’ve ever coached,” said Willems, who has served as head coach for 14 years and sports a 433-141 record with two state championships. “Her legacy here isn’t just as a volleyball player. She gets so excited when her teammates succeed. She lifts others up and has a childlike joy inside of her.

“She’s a competitor, sure, but it’s not out of whack.”

Meester 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).

Her final career numbers include 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 recently when she was selected Class 3A state player of the year.

“If I wanted to play six rotations, I had to get better.”

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In the last four years (Willems and Meester were common denominators in that run), Mount Vernon racked up a 149-28 record and advanced to four state tournaments, all in 3A.

The Mustangs qualified in 2021, reached the semifinals in 2022, were runners-up to Western Christian in 2023 and won it all, emphatically, in November.

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

Huber and Maue were the final two pieces to the Mustangs’ championship puzzle.

A setter, Huber transferred from Cedar Rapids Xavier before her junior season. A right-side hitter who joined Meester on the Iowa Girls Coaches Association’s eight-player Elite all-state team, Maue moved in from Center Point-Urbana before her senior season.

Maue will attend the University of Arkansas next year.

Their arrival further heightened expectations around the Mount Vernon program. The Mustangs reached a crossroads at the Westside Invitational in mid-October.

“We were at a bit of a breaking point,” Willems said. “Things could go one way or the other. We knew there was no room for anything other than excellence the rest of the season.”

In the end, the Mustangs delivered, winning their final nine matches without dropping a set.

Despite all of her success — 12 state tournaments in her 14 years, including titles in 2019 and 2024 — Willems deals with what she calls imposter syndrome.

“It’s the idea that my success is not deserved, my achievements are not legitimate,” she said. “I think it’s the manifestation of perfectionism.”

It can be a curse. It can also be, in Willems’ words, “a gift, a reality that I have to intentionally navigate.”

The 2024 Gazette all-area volleyball team

OH LIBBY FANDEL, 6-0, sr., Cedar Rapids Xavier — Three-time selection. Averaged 4.75 kills, 2.63 digs and 0.39 blocks per set and posted a .305 kill efficiency as the Saints (28-5) reached the Class 4A state tournament. IGCA 4A first-team all-state.

S/OH ASTA HILDEBRAND, 6-0, sr., Iowa City Liberty — Two-time selection. Averaged 3.32 kills, 3.23 assists and 2.87 digs per set as the Lightning (15-21) reached the Class 5A regional finals. Posted a .247 kill efficiency. IGCA 5A second-team all-state. St. Cloud State signee.

L ALEXIE HOGAN, 5-7, sr., Dyersville Beckman — Averaged 5.17 digs per set as the Blazers (36-7) reached the Class 2A state semifinals. IGCA 2A first-team all-state.

L GRACIE HOSKINS, 5-3, sr., Center Point-Urbana — Averaged 4.14 digs per set as the Stormin’ Pointers (19-13) reached the Class 3A regional semifinals. IGCA 3A first-team all-state.

S SYDNEY HUBER, 6-0, sr., Mount Vernon — Two-time selection. Averaged 10.86 assists per set and posted a .496 kill efficiency as the Mustangs (45-4) won the Class 3A state championship. IGCA 3A first-team all-state.

OH BROOKE KROGMANN, 6-0, sr., West Delaware — Averaged 2.33 kills and posted a .256 kill efficiency as the Hawks (39-7) reached the Class 3A state semifinals. IGCA 3A third-team all-state. Upper Iowa signee.

OH JAYDEN KUPER, 5-10, sr., Monticello — Averaged 5.74 kills, 3.97 digs and 0.47 blocks per set and posted a .296 kill efficiency as the Panthers (26-9) reached the Class 3A regional finals. IGCA 3A first-team all-state.

OH AVERIE LOWER, 6-0, jr., Clear Creek Amana — Averaged 3.80 kills and 3.09 digs per set and posted a .246 kill efficiency as the Clippers (37-8) reached the Class 4A state quarterfinals. IGCA 4A first-team all-state.

OH SYDNEY MAUE, 6-1, sr., Mount Vernon — Averaged 2.99 kills, 0.49 blocks and 1.60 digs per set and posted a .439 kill efficiency as the Mustangs (45-4) won the Class 3A state championship. IGCA Elite all-state and 3A first-team all-state. Arkansas signee.

OH CHLOE MEESTER, 6-3, sr., Mount Vernon — Three-time selection. Averaged 4.83 kills and 2.02 digs per set and posted a .461 kill efficiency as the Mustangs (45-4) won the Class 3A state championship. State player of the year, IGCA Elite all-state and 3A first team all-state. Louisville signee.

L DAKOTA MITCHELL, 5-3, sr., Mid-Prairie — Two-time selection. Averaged 5.44 digs and 0.56 aces per set as the Golden Hawks (33-9) reached the Class 3A state tournament. IGCA 3A first-team all-state. North Texas signee.

OH REESE NAEVE, 5-8, jr., Iowa City Regina — Averaged 7.53 kills and 3.43 digs per set and posted a .320 kill efficiency as the Regals (24-15) reached the Class 2A state tournament. IGCA 2A second-team all-state. Iowa State commit.

S SOPHIE SANDER, 5-11, jr., Anamosa — Averaged 9.98 assists, 1.09 kills and 2.66 digs per set and posted a .381 kill efficiency as the Blue Raiders (32-8) reached the Class 3A regional finals. IGCA 3A second-team all-state.

MH CARLEE WEBBER, 6-0, sr., Marion — Averaged 4.12 kills, 2.27 digs and 0.63 blocks per set and posted a .293 kill efficiency as the Wolves (24-15) reached the Class 4A regional finals. IGCA 4A first-team all-state.

Player of the year — Chloe Meester, sr., Mount Vernon.

Coach of the year — Maggie Willems, Mount Vernon.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com