Bridgeport High School Ali Burton thought her team could be a title contender in 2024 so to help get the Indians ready for state tournament time, she built as tough a regular-season schedule as she could.
It paid off as two weeks ago, Bridgeport won the Class AAA state championship. Along the way on securing the program’s second-ever state title (they previously won the Class AA championship in 2018), the Indians finished with a record of 52-8-2. They were undefeated at home, undefeated against fellow Class AAA competition, including wins prior to the start of the state tournament against every school in the field except Herbert Hoover, who they defeated in the title match.
They had victories against 31 different schools who advanced to the co-regional round throughout the four classes and within that 52-8-2 record, they won 108 sets and lost just 21.
Facing that strong of competition throughout the season also means the Indians saw plenty of the state’s best players. In fact, of the 20 players who earned Class AAA All-State first team or second team honors, BHS found itself on the other side of the net against 16 of them.
Of course, to navigate through all of that and be the last team standing, you need some pretty good players of your own and that was certainly the case for the Indians, who have two first-team selections in seniors Myleigh Smell and Kaylee Enfield along with a second-teamer in junior Salam Rajjoub on the Class AAA All-State Volleyball Team announced today by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
Smell, a two-time first-team selection, was chosen as the captain for this year’s first-team.
Joining Smell and Enfield on the first team are the Herbert Hoover duo of Ashton Henrich and Ziah Smith, the Shady Spring duo of Reagan Mann and Alivia Stover and Frankfort’s Taylor Mandell, Greenbrier East’s Alexis Stack, Wayne’s Addie Adkins and Winfield’s Brooklyn Cole.
“There’s a lot of great teams in Class AAA and a lot of great players,” Burton said. “Everyone of those girls on that list can play volleyball and play volleyball well. Everyone of them can do a lot of different things out on the court.
“With Myleigh, she just does everything well. She has such a great all-around game and has been such a leader for us. Kaylee, is everything a team would want in a libero. She really worked her tail off to become the player she is.”
Smell finished this year with 632 kills, 400 digs, 74 aces, 63 blocks and 27 assists. Enfield had 537 digs, 104 assists and 46 aces. Smell and Enfield both surpassed the 1,000-dig mark for their careers this year and Smell also surpassed 1,000 career kills.
For Hoover, Henrich, a senior, finished this year with 371 kills, 421 digs and 118 aces. Her junior teammate, Smith, posted 440 kills and 102 blocks.
Shady’s Mann and Stover are both juniors. Mann finished 2024 with 565 assists, 74 aces, 266 kills and 399 digs. Stover had 363 kills and 120 blocks.
Mandell, a senior for the Falcons, had numbers prior to the state tournament that included 385 kills, 198 digs and 60 aces.
Stack led the Spartans with 523 kills to go along with 358 digs and 84 aces.
Adkins helped Wayne earn a spot in the state tournament and finished her senior season with 472 kills, 302 digs and 70 aces.
For Winfield, Cole, also a junior, finished with 346 kills, 102 blocks, 106 digs and 34 aces.
Frankfort’s Avery Noel was named the second-team captain.
Joining her and Rajjoub on the second team are Weir’s Janai Turner, Greenbrier East’s Mollie Pack, Keyser’s Miley Portillo, Winfield’s Natalie Cooke, Shady Spring’s Kenidi Creager, Herbert Hoover’s Braelyn Adkins, Ripley’s Brenna Lutz and Wayne’s Courtney Thompson.
Wooden plaques shaped as West Virginia that include the school name, player name, the WVSWA logo, award and year are available for all-state honorees. They can be purchased from the Bear Wood Company through WVSWA.org or bearwoodcompany.com
By Chris Johnson (Connect-Bridgeport)
The Class AAA All-State Volleyball Team as selected by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association
FIRST TEAM
Myleigh Smell, Bridgeport, SR (CAPTAIN)
Taylor Mandell, Frankfort, SR
Ashton Henrich, Herbert Hoover, SR
Alexis Stack, Greenbrier East, SR
Addie Adkins, Wayne, SR
Ziah Smith, Herbert Hoover, JR
Kaylee Enfield, Bridgeport, SR
Reagan Mann, Shady Spring, JR
Brooklyn Cole, Winfield, JR
Alivia Stover, Shady Spring, JR
SECOND TEAM
Avery Noel, Frankfort, SR (CAPTAIN)
Janai Turner, Weir, SR
Mollie Pack, Greenbrier East, SR
Miley Portillo, Keyser, SR
Natalie Cook, Winfield, SO
Salam Rajjoub, Bridgeport, JR
Kenidi Creager, Shady Spring, JR
Braelyn Adkins, Herbert Hoover, SO
Brenna Lutz, Ripley, SR
Courtney Thompson, Wayne, JR
Honorable Mention
Kyah Stump, East Fairmont; Hailey Ervin, Greenbrier East; Rachel Mann, Shady Spring; Sarina Squires, Robert C. Byrd; Haley Justice, PikeView; Sarah Pownell, Hampshire; Jessi Crook, Herbert Hoover; Eliza Bush, Lewis County; Aubree Cantrell, Independence; Kenna Keener, Grafton; Brystal Winfrey, Princeton; Ana Soblit, Sissonville; Maura O’Neill, Elkins; Maddy McGill, Robert C. Byrd; Chloe Patrick, Point Pleasant; Madison Zirkle, Elkins; Kylie Amick, Nicholas County; Addison Veigel, Bridgeport; Braylin Lutz, Ripley; Calleigh Morgan, Bridgeport; Ava Cole, Winfield; Adison Pritts, Frankfort
