Athlete of the Week - Sahara Morken, Mabel-Canton Volleyball

MABEL, Minn. (KTTC) –A lot goes into being a setter.

“You never know where that pass is going to bring you and if you have to set it or pass it, how far you have to move your feet and get around the ball,” Sahara Morken said.

All of that and Sahara Morken makes it look pretty easy.

Just this week she set a school record with 68 set assists in the Section championship game helping Mable-Canton to their first state tournament since 2001.

“I was really happy and really proud of our team and Kinley Soiney actually got 38 kills which is unbelievable, and I could have never done it without her so that was a lot of fun,” Sahara Morken said.

She’s quick to praise to her teammates, but It’s been an unbelievable season for Morken, breaking her own school record with 1,155 set assists this year.

Continuing to impress her coach and Dad Lonnie Morken.

“She’s super athletic, she’s only 5′4, but she has about a 27 and ½ inch vertical so she’s able to block okay on the right side if we ever have her hit, she can hit on the right side,” Lonnie Morken said.

The biggest thing is she’s just a sophomore.

“Last year I only jump set for our middles and now I jump set basically all outside and right-side hits and I feel like I’ve gotten better at defense too. I kind of flow to the ball more than I did last year,” Sahara Morken said.

These improvements just evidence of the time she’s put in.

“She’s realized probably for the last three years now that if she wants to be good and the team wants to be good, she’s really going to have to put in a lot of time setting the ball and so we do come up quite a bit,” Lonnie Morken said.

It’s why if she continues to work, coach thinks she can be really special.

“We’ve had unbelievable kids that have gone off and played division one volleyball, we’ve had some great setters that have been all-state multiple years. She could be right up there with all the rest at the end when she graduates,” Lonnie Morken said.

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