(Enlarge) Senior Becky Paynter reached 500 assists for the second time in her high-school career and helped lead River Hill to a 15-3 record this season. (staff photo by Matt Roth)

Sybil Modispacher has been the volleyball coach at River Hill since the school opened in 1996. She has coached a lot of good setters in her time.

But "I've never had as complete a player as Becky in all my years of coaching, and that includes everything. She's a great person and a great player," Modispacher said. "I can't imagine ever replacing her."

Unfortunately for Modispacher and River Hill, the Hawks will have to. And while the team -- which routinely sits near the top of the county standings -- will undoubtedly find another setter, and a good one at that, they will never have another Becky Paynter.

Paynter's mother, Lynn, the junior varsity coach at River Hill, was a setter at William & Mary. She told her daughter, "you never know it's out of reach unless you go after every ball," and Paynter has built a career around those words, throwing her body after every pass, good or bad, and turning almost all of them into beautiful sets.

"I feel like I'm helping when I'm setting, it's the most rewarding position," Paynter said. "All of a sudden you hear a 'boom' and then the cheers."

From the time that she entered high school in 2004, Paynter has been the Hawks' setter. As a freshman, she and her childhood friend, sophomore hitter Maddi Lee, helped lead the team to 11 wins and a spot in the regional semifinals.

The next year, the pair helped River Hill win 14 matches and reach the regional finals. As a junior, Paynter reached new heights, topping 500 assists for the first time, winning 15 matches, serving a career best 97 percent with 84 aces, and earning a trip to the state tournament. That year, Lee was selected player of the year. Some wondered how Paynter would do this season without her best weapon.

In response, the senior led a young team -- sophomore Sarah Okey was the team's leading hitter, and Paynter was its only senior -- back to the state tournament, again topping 500 assists and leading the team to a 15-3 record, the best in her four-year career.

"At the end of last year, I was really upset, I still had my senior year, but I was like 'I don't even know if we're going to be good next year ... my senior year is going to be a rebuilding year'," Paynter said. "But then after practicing for a couple weeks, I was like, 'Wait. Are we good?' "

They certainly were, but Paynter will likely remember the way this season ended for a lifetime. After leading defending state champion Rising Sun, 24-19, in game three -- one point away from advancing to its first state title match in nine years -- River Hill coughed up seven straight points and then lost the next two games to end its season and Paynter's high school career.

"As a setter you kind of take things on yourself (when the team loses)," said Paynter, who blamed herself for not using the right words to inspire her team.

But even under those heartbreaking circumstances, Paynter behaved like a leader.

"She told her teammates that they did a great job and told them to remember the good things," Modispacher said. "She was hurting, but she didn't let the rest of the team feel that ... she was like a mother (to her teammates)."

In her career, Paynter has 1,715 assists and has averaged more than 95 percent serving. Her teams have a 55-19 match record.

"Almost every match I spoke to her at the end and said, 'Wow, you did a great job and you made the difference'," Modispacher said.

Paynter, who enjoys watching movies and goofing around with her two brothers when they are home from the University of Maryland, is still in the process of selecting a college. She knows she wants to play volleyball, but also wants to find a strong school where she can earn a pre-med degree.

Named to the all-county first team are:

Outside hitters

Sam Brostrom, Centennial sophomore. As only a sophomore, Brostrom garnered plenty of player of the year votes after leading the Eagles to their record 14th state championship this season. "Bro," as she is called by teammates, led the Eagles -- a team crowded with elite players -- in kills (166) and was second in digs (168) and aces (47) and third in blocks (nine).

To produce like that in just one category on the best team in the state would be notable, but Bro could do it all. She was strong enough to hit the ball with power, nimble enough to anchor the back row defense, accurate enough to be a top server, and tall enough to put up a strong block in the front row. And when the team needed a kill, they knew who to go to.

"She'd hear me say 'feed the bear' and she knew we were going to her," Schofield said.

The scary thing for opponents is that with two years left, Brostrom is just getting started. Schofield thinks that she could go down as the greatest Centennial volleyball player to ever wear the Eagles uniform.

"She's one of the top four players we've had at Centennial, (along with) Meredith Price, Lindsay Feller, Tehya Mockapetris ... she could end up as the top player by the end of it."

Camille Freeman, Wilde Lake senior. This season likely meant more to Freeman than almost any player in the county. After two promising years on JV, Freeman was poised to push the Wilde Lake varsity over the top last year in what turned out to be their best season in school history. But then academic ineligibility sidelined her. This year she showed improved performance in the classroom and led the Wildecats to an even better season than last year.

"She left it all on the court," coach Caitlin Geoghan said.

With her explosive leaps and spring-loaded arm, Freeman approached 200 kills this season to lead the Wildecats. Freeman was also the team captain, did an excellent job in the back row as a defensive player, possessed a dynamite jump serve, and filled in as a middle hitter late in the season when the team needed help there.

Julie Poston, Reservoir junior. Since debuting as a key freshman on Reservoir's state finalist team, Poston has had the well-deserved reputation as one of the deadliest players in the county and proved it in helping to lead a star-studded team to the school's first state title last season. This season, Poston was one of the most experienced players on a young, developing team that struggled in the first half of the season but was vastly improved by the playoffs. Whether it was with her serve or her powerful spikes, the left hander usually scored points for the Gators when she touched the ball.

In a loss to county finalist Wilde Lake, Poston tallied an impressive 17 kills. In another loss, to eventual state champion Centennial, Poston starred with a match-high 12 kills against one of the best defenses in the state.

Casey Schmidt, Glenelg junior. Schmidt anchored the Gladiators as setter last season on a run to the state championship match. But midway through this season, her services were needed to fill a hole at outside hitter, and the versatile athlete came through brilliantly.

Tearing through the 1A classification, Schmidt posted a triple double in five out of the six playoff matches. In a dazzling display in the state semifinal win over Col. Richardson, Schmidt broke two state records with 11 aces in the match and 15 service points in game three.

"She was really in a groove ... if we get behind, Casey can catch us up," coach Don Beall said. "We (went) where Casey (went) this year."

Middle hitters

Sarah Hall, Centennial junior. Hall, along with teammate Kristin Anderson, gave the Eagles the force at the net that they needed to make opposing hitters think twice about just swinging away. She had 125 kills and 39 blocks and got her hands on just about everything that came over her stretch of net.

"Sarah was in constant motion, with a big smile all the time because you can tell she really enjoys what she's doing," Schofield said.

A natural leader, Hall was unanimously voted in as a team captain by her teammates, even though the team had six seniors. Along with Brostrom and sophomore Liz Brown (132 kills this season), Hall will help to make Centennial the team to beat in Maryland again next season.

Nyree Williams, Howard senior. To Williams, volleyball is somewhat of a diversion: the 6-foot-1 forward has already earned a full scholarship to play basketball for North Carolina next season. Williams tried volleyball as a sophomore on a lark. She finished that season with more than 100 kills and 60 blocks, but opted out to focus on basketball as a junior.

According to coach Grant Scott, Williams noticed that her vertical leap suffered in the absence of volleyball, and she returned for her senior season.

"She started to develop a love for the game," Scott said. "She missed it."

This season Williams led Howard in kills (117) and blocks (38), developing a a well-rounded offensive attack to complement her blocking ability.

"She was always able to see the ball and block it, but (this season) she developed on offense," Scott said. "Nyree tended to hit the ball straight down, not many people in the county can do that."

Scott thinks that if Williams had focused on volleyball the way she has on basketball, "She would be where Bailey Webster is," referring to the Texas bound St. Paul's senior who is considered the nation's top volleyball prospect.

Libero

Molly Speicher, Centennial senior. As one of the top offensive weapons on last year's team, Speicher accepted a prominent role this season. She traded the glory of kills for the less exciting task of racking up digs, which allowed teammate Ashley Fan -- who was slated to play libero -- to thrive at outside hitter. Speicher even attended a volleyball camp at the end of the summer to prepare to play the position. An all-county second team guard in basketball, Speicher's skills helped her be a better volleyball player.

"She just had a nose for the ball. From basketball she had the court sense of reading the dribble and reading the hitter," Schofield said.

In one match alone, Speicher had 23 digs and led the team with 190 on the season. Speicher had a team-best 15 digs in the state championship win over Towson.

Setter

Jackie Hawkins, Centennial senior. The state champions would not have racked up the over 700 kills that they did without Hawkins running things from the setter position.

"She had a pretty good arsenal of weapons and she knew how to use them, she knew who was hot and who was cold," Schofield said.

Hawkins spread the ball well, as four hitters had over 100 kills on the season.

Hawkins was also one of the team's best servers, amassing 34 aces on 92 percent serving. In the playoffs, when Schofield wanted to throw a bigger block at the high-powered offenses, Hawkins rotated out so that 5-foot-11 Liz Brown could play setter in the front row. Hawkins did not complain, but "she always gave me the high sign when it was her turn to (rotate) back in," Schofield said.

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