If you’re looking for Sydney Hilley during pregame warmups, there’s a chance you may see her crawling across the floor with her teammates.
The move is a combination of a stretch and lunge, and it’s an integral part of the Rebels’ regimen.
“We do a lunge, then what we call a spider-man,” Hilley said after Champlin Park defeated Minnetonka 25-15, 25-18, 25-21 on Saturday evening in the Breakdown Sports USA Side Out Classic at Hopkins High School.
“I think it really gets us stretched and ready to go when we hit the floor,” the senior setter added.
The move worked for Hilley, who tallied a game-high 15 kills for a Rebels team ranked No. 4 in the Class 3A coaches’ preseason poll.
Hilley enters this season still wearing the cape from a superhero-like junior year. A Wisconsin commit who was named an American Family Insurance Preseason All-USA selection this month, she was selected as the 2015 Gatorade State Player of the Year in Minnesota after helping Champlin Park capture third place at the Class 3A state tournament.
Hilley also finished the regular season tied for the fourth-most kills in the state with 407, before tallying 78 more in the postseason to end with 485. She was second on the team in assists (390), digs (207) and blocks (10).
Hilley wants this season to be less about her being a super girl and more about the Rebels being a super squad -- one that reaches the state title game.
“Individual awards mean nothing to me,” Hilley said. “It’s all about the team now. I want to win a state championship, and I need my teammates with me the whole way.”
Champlin Park (1-0) seems to have plenty of players poised to be more than sidekicks this season.
Joining Hilley in the double-digit kill column Saturday was sophomore outside hitter Emma Schmidt, who finished with 11 kills.
Team co-captain Allie Miller and fellow seniors Marisa Vattendahl Vidal and Maria Claflin have become extraordinary leaders for the program, Rebels coach John Yunker said.
“They’re not afraid to say stuff,” Yunker added. “It’s just a matter of when the chips are down, are they going to be able to step up.”
Champlin Park showed that effort Saturday against a solid Skippers squad in the season opener, and Yunker said he was generally pleased with how his team performed.
“Overall, I thought they played well,” Yunker said. “(Minnetonka) is a really good team and kept coming at us, so we’ll take it for the first one and try to get ready for the next one.”
Skippers (0-1) were led by junior middle blocker Katelyn Lannom and senior outside hitter Annabelle Lohrenz, who each recorded eight kills in the loss.
