Prep athletes of the week: Benilde-St. Margaret's outside hitter finds her groove

Having played organized volleyball for only about three years, the 5-10 Jackson is nowhere near a finished product. But the sophomore outside hitter has the athletic skills that make a coach's eyes light up.

"She's only about 5-10 but she can touch 10 feet," coach Phong Luong said.

Over the last week and a half, Jackson's game has taken a serious jump forward. From Oct. 7 through last Saturday, the Red Knights won 11 of 12 matches, including the championships of the Subway Classic in Marshall and the Benilde-St. Margaret's Dig Pink Tournament. Over that span, Jackson had 133 kills, 52 digs, 14 blocks and a hitting efficiency of .302.

Jackson acknowledged that her season started slowly but she's feeling more comfortable as the season has gone on.

Despite her inexperience, college coaches have noticed.

"A few look looked at me, but I haven't had any offers," she said.

Luong doesn't think that will last long. "If she continues to grow and improve like she has, she'll get a lot of interest from the mid-level Division I coaches," he said.

The 6-foot middle blocker manned the front line for the Panthers, who won six of seven, punctuated by victories over Bloomington Jefferson, Cretin-Derham Hall and Hill-Murray. For the week, she had 57 kills, a .422 percentage and 20 blocks.

RYAN DUFFY

The Class 4A, No. 1-ranked Packers held off a late charge to defeat Henry Sibley 24-22 and improve to 7-0. Duffy, a senior QB who is also a standout baseball player, rushed 24 times for a career-high 208 yards and three touchdowns.

The senior libero was the foundation to a 6-1 week. She had 25 digs in a five-set loss to Class 3A, No. 1 Eagan and had double-digit digs in victories over East Ridge, Lakeville North and Prior Lake en route to the Bachman Invitational championship.

The senior setter helped orchestrate Suburban East Conference victories for the Raiders over Mounds View and Stillwater. She had 76 assists and went over the 4,000 career set assists just the 7th player ever to reach that mark.

JIM PAULSEN