Zickfield commits to play volleyball at Murray State

Central's Wendi Zickfield enjoys a bright future in volleyball and basketball, and she's decided which sport she wants to pursue in college.

Zickfield, who just completed her junior year at Central, gave a verbal commitment to play volleyball at Murray State, starting with the 2009 season.

"Murray State is a place that is close to my home," she said. "It's only 2 1/2 hours away, it's close to Kentucky Lake and it's close enough to where my dad and my mom can come down and watch me play whenever they wanted to. Plus I wouldn't have to schedule an airplane flight to come back home. If there was an emergency, I'll be able to go back home easily and not have it be a big deal."

The 6-foot-2 Zickfield averaged 16.4 points and 6.7 rebounds a game and was named the Southeast Missourian player of the year during the Tigers basketball season. She finished with 166 digs, 67 aces and 280 kills as a hitter on the volleyball team.

"Volleyball and basketball, I've been in love with them both," she said. "It was one of those things that it was a hard decision. But it ended up being volleyball just because it was better for me and my personality to play volleyball instead of basketball."

She's thankful she's made her decision and won't have to worry about it during her senior year.

"I am so excited that I don't have to worry about it for my senior year," she said. "I think if I would have had to, I would have been stressed out trying to get coaches to come see me play and putting all my focus on that. Now that I'm committed to Murray State, it's so much easier. All the pressure is off. I can go out my senior year and play and not worry about impressing coaches and things like that."

Zickfield plans to sign her letter of intent during the November signing period.

Modglin player of year

Scott City senior Ryan Modglin, who helped the Rams win the Class 2 state title, was named the Scott-Mississippi Conference player of the year in baseball.

The Rams had three players on the first team, while Oran had three, Chaffee had three and Scott County Central had one.

Scott-Mississippi all-conference

First team — Ryan Modglin, Scott City; Kody Campbell, Oran; Paul Johnson, Charleston; Cody Carlyle, Scott City; Jerrod Steger, Chaffee; Caleb Seyer, Oran; Shae Simmons, Scott City; Jamie Barber, Charleston; James Miller Charleston; Josh Steger, Chaffee; Andy Hendrix, Chaffee; Mark Freed, Scott County Central; Tyler Whybark, East Prairie; Colin Gilooly, Charleston; Jayden Pobst, Oran.

Honorable mention — Trenton Horman, Chaffee; Russell Gardner, Chaffee; Eric Rowling, Charleston; Cody Naramore, Delta; Mikey Russell, East Prairie; Steven Dooley, Oran; Toby Heeb, Scott County Central; Josh Henson, Scott City; Tyler Martin, Delta.Player of the year — Ryan Modglin, Scott CityCoach of the year — Michael Minner, Charleston

 

Steffens collect honors

Saxony Lutheran's Bryant Steffens and Bret Steffens recently picked up two honors apiece.

Both players were named to the Mississippi Valley Conference first team and the Class 1 District 3 all-district team.

The Crusaders had four players make the all-conference first team, while Meadow Heights had two, Oak Ridge had four, Leopold had three and Delta and Zalma had one apiece.

Mississippi Valley all-conference

First team — Cody Kennedy, so., Meadow Heights; Ethan Sachs, jr., Oak Ridge; Garrett Light, so., Oak Ridge; Matt Groves, jr., Meadow Heights; Dustin Meyr, sr., Oak Ridge; Cody Van De Ven, sr., Leopold; Wade Wiseman, jr., Leopold; Clayton Stoverink, jr., Leopold; Nick Smith, jr., Zalma; Brett Thomas, fr., Oak Ridge; Bret Steffens, jr., Saxony Lutheran; Chris Roth, jr., Saxony Lutheran; Garrett Fritsche, jr., Saxony Lutheran; Bryant Steffens, jr., Saxony Lutheran; Tyler Martin, sr., Delta.

Honorable mention — Spencer Sander, fr., Saxony Lutheran; Cody Shrum, sr., Delta; Cody Naramore, so., Delta; Darren VanGennip, jr., Leopold; Josh Freeman, jr., Zalma.

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Class 1 District 3 all-district team

First team

Saxony Lutheran — Chris Roth, jr., P; Bret Steffens, jr., C; Garrett Fritsche, jr., INF; Bryant Steffens, jr., INF

Meadow Heights — Cody Kennedy, so., P; Matt Groves, jr., INF;

Oak Ridge — Garrett Light, so., INF;

Honorable mention

Oak Ridge — Ethan Sachs, jr., P;

Saxony Lutheran — Spencer Sander, fr., INF; Max Wieser, sr., OF