By Hayden Swope

Claria Dannefer of Abilene knew this was going to be the year that she was going to be locked in on the court. Dannefer spent the offseason preparing for mentally tough games, and is ready to put it all out on the line. 

“We all worked really hard this summer to improve our game and team chemistry,” Dannefer said. “Personally, I have been focusing on being smart with ball placement. Instead of just swinging as hard as I can all the time, I’ve worked on mixing it up and hitting some different sports off-speed to throw off the defense. I used to just tip highover the block when the set was off, but now I try to get kills by hitting holes on the floor.”

With all the work that has gone into this year, Dannefer is hoping to see it all pay off later in the season. 

“This year it is our team goal to make it to state,” Dannefer said. “The past three years I believe we have had a state caliber team but we just couldn’t get it done at substate. This year we have six seniors and a team that is extremely competitive and talented.”

After high school, Dannefer plans to continue her athletics and education at the next level.

“Next year I plan on continuing my academic and basketball career in college,” Dannefer said. “As of right now I’m not committed but I’m hoping to make a decision before the season this winter. In college I plan on majoring in Exercise Science or Kinesiology to eventually become an athletic trainer or physical therapist after some additional schooling.”