Gott, Imes enjoy Junior All-Star experience | Sports

Western Boone’s Emmerson Gott and Zionsville’s Josie Imes got to compete with and against some of the other top junior volleyball players in the state on Sunday afternoon at the IHSVCA Indiana All-Star Classic.

The matches – which serves as the Indiana All-Star match for volleyball – took place at Lawrence North High School.

Gott played in the Class 1A/2A game for the Northern All-Stars.

“It was really fun,” Gott said. “I have never been part of a recognition game like that, so it was reallly fun to meet new people and play with and against some of my club teammates and some other girls who I’ve seen this postseason.”

Gott was just the second Indiana Junior All-Star from Western Boone, joining her teammate Raegan Durbin, who made the team last year.

“It means a lot (to represent WeBo in the game),” Gott said. “When I looked up at Raegan’s jersey last year, I was just thinking ‘oh, that’s a really big accomplishment.’ It’s crazy to think that I’m here now and I’m experiencing the same thing.”

Gott was teammates with several girls the Stars faced during the post-season this year.

She said one of the cool things about the event was being able to get to know some of those girls better.

“It was fun to get to know them on a personal level, and not just be head-to-head with them,” Gott said. “It was a great cap to my junior year, I enjoy playing with other people and that’s one of the reasons I like playing club, because I can meet new people.”

Gott finished with 144 kills this season and added 54 blocks in helping the Stars win the Class 2A State Title.

This off-season, she said there were a few things she wanted to focus on.

“I definitely want to work on my blocking, and getting up there and attacking every time – not second guessing anything,” Gott said. “I just want to play my game and not get in my head.”

Imes played in the Class 3A/4A Junior game for the North All-Stars.

She said it was a good experience to compete with a lot of the girls she sees throughout the year.

“It was an incredible experience,” Imes said. ‘You get to play against these girls all season and admire their play on their respective teams, but it is cool to come together and have all these incredible athletes and incredible players play together. It was cool to play with amazing setters and amazing defense and it’s really not like any other experience that I have had.”

For a lot of these girls, they are always in a competition mode, and whether it be with their high school team or club, the end result is super important.

But for an event like Sunday – yes the teams wanted to win – but it was more of a laid back atmosphere that brought out the best in them.

“It was fun, because there really wasn’t any pressure,” Imes said. “You come out and play against other good competition. Yeah if you can win the all-star game, that’s cool, but it’s more of just the experience and get to meet people. It’s a little awkward at first, but as you start to play, it’s a lot of fun. You don’t get to play freely with no pressure and super loose all the time, so it was a different side of volleyball.”

Imes also becomes the second player in her family to be an Indiana All-Star in their respective sport, as her brother Logan was a basketball All-Star during his time at Zionsville.

Imes said it was cool to share that type of accolade with him.

“I got to watch him play in the Indiana All-Star basketball game, which is just crazy,” Imes said. “It goes to show the work our parents put in to help us get where we are. I talked with last night about it and how cool of an experience it is to play with people from all over the state and it really is pretty special.”

Imes finished this season with 425 kills, and is approaching the 1000-kill mark for her career. She added 323 digs and 47 aces.

“(Heading into my senior year) one thing I want to kind of incorporate into my game is playing more right side so I can be a little more versatile,” Imes said. “I can always get more serve receive reps and want to be better on that front. Next year at Zionsville, I think my leadership skills are going to be really important for that group we have, so I want to continue to work on that and be the backbone of the team almost.”