Amarillo High senior Jo Moffitt named Preseason Player of the Year
Amarillo High's Jo Moffitt has everything that a coach could want in a team leader.
The senior setter plays with relentless effort, elite skills for the high school level and a deep knowledge of the game that always seems to allow her to put her team in the best position to succeed. Those traits, along with her record-setting play on the court, are what make Moffitt the 2022 Amarillo Globe-News' Volleyball Preseason Player of the Year.
"I'm just trying to do whatever I can to help my team win," Moffitt said. "I've continued to work on my game and this is going to be a wonderful season and I'm so excited to play with this team."
Last fall, Moffitt broke Brianne Barker's single-season program assists record that had stood since 2006. The all-around playmaker on the court finished her penultimate high school season with an eye-popping 1,441 assists for a Lady Sandie squad that advanced all the way to the Region I-5A semifinals.
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She added a team-high 70 aces and finished third with 235 digs while contributing 87 kills at the net for a team that featured current Texas Tech outside hitter and 2021 AGN Volleyball Player of the Year Currie Marusak. While she has continued to evolve her skills on defense, Moffitt's strengths on the offensive side have made her father, head coach Mike Moffitt take notice.
"Jo does a great job orchestrating offense," Dr. Moffitt said. "She knows what we want, she knows how to exploit matchups, she knows all the strengths and weaknesses of her hitters and of the opponents. Her offensive mind is right there with a coach. It's like sitting in the whiteboard room with Drew Brees. She may not be the biggest or most athletic, but she knows where everybody is supposed to be and knows how to exploit that."
During the 2021 season, Marusak passed Emerson Solano's single-season kills record. While she was making a charge for the career record, there was another player that was quietly producing the best season for a setter in Amarillo High's prestigious history.
No surprise, it was Moffitt.
"We played as many games as we possibly could last year and we knew that Currie was going to be approaching some of the records," Dr. Moffitt said. "We had her penciled in to break that season kills record and as we got further and further along we noticed Jo was also going to break the season assists record. It was neat and it was one more thing for our girls to be excited about."
The senior team captain will now set her sights on leading the Lady Sandies to their first state title since 2016. She will have to do it with a mostly new supporting cast around her following the graduation of Marusak and outside hitter Brielle Worley.
Moffitt will have libero Kaylie Ledbetter and middle blocker Elle Krusa returning as starters to team up with her on the court. That trio of playmakers has never lost a district game during their varsity careers and are not looking for that to change anytime soon.
The setter will also have her sister, sophomore Bird Moffitt, joining her on the varsity roster this season as a defensive specialist.
"I'm super excited about playing with this team," Jo said. "It's going to be super fun and I can't wait. This year we're focusing on defense and having a defensive mindset. I think this team will really help grow that side of our game."
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Following her record-setting junior season and a great off-season spent playing club ball around the country, Moffitt announced her verbal commitment to Western Colorado University. WCU competes at the Division II level of the NCAA.
The Mountaineers have a new first-year head coach in Eric Ballelos, who was hired in April and made it a priority to earn the commitment of the Texas Panhandle's most prestigious player.
"It really came down to the people," Moffitt said. "I just loved everybody there so much and I can't wait to play under Coach Eric and Coach Maggie (Billingsley). I'm super excited to join that program and get to play with them."
She will have 1,804 career assists to start the season, and it will not be long before the senior hits the 2,000-mark and continues to rise on the program's all-time leaderboards.
For now, Moffitt is solely focused on leading her team to another district title and a deep run in the postseason.
"That was a great season last year," Moffitt said. "Now, I'm ready to just focus on this year with this team and accomplishing our team goals together."
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo volleyballer Jo Moffitt named Preseason Player of the Year
