One of Bre Van Den Top’s favorite aspects of playing volleyball is just being able to fit in with her team.
But once on the court, the senior middle/outside hitter for the Class 4A No. 6-ranked Sergeant Bluff-Luton High School volleyball team does anything but blend in.
“The feeling of getting a good block or a good kill is the best,” Van Den Top said. “I love cheering on my teammates and trying to get better with them every day.”
A senior for SB-L and The Journal’s Athlete of the Week, Van Den Top proved to be one of the state’s best in helping the Warriors reach the Class 4A state semifinals, a run that included an upset win over then-No. 6 Lewis Central in the regional finals and an even bigger upset over No. 1-seeded Cedar Rapids Xavier in the state quarterfinals.
“Last season was definitely a big motivator for us,” Van Den Top said. “We’re trying to get back there again and go further this time.”
This season has been no different as Van Den Top needed just 12 matches to reach 100 kills.
And after a 3-1 victory over Missouri River Activities Conference rival Sioux City East on Tuesday night, her career kill total is over 900.
But less can be more — at least occasionally — for Van Den Top and the Warriors this season as the team develops more weapons for junior setter Bailey Ball, especially with senior outside Izzy Schaap limited by injury, but several Warriors have answered the call.
Sophomore Delaney Griebel has over 50 kills this season. Juniors Kenleigh Panowicz and Madison Kvidera each have over 40 kills, and freshman Olivia Kneifl, who was called up to varsity after Schaap went down, is tied for third on the team at 1.6 kills per set.
“If I were scouting us, I’d be keying on Bre,” said SB-L head coach Renee Winkel. “So being able to have other hitters score points helps us expand our attack and be more efficient across the board. So just her presence on the court helps us there.”
SB-L is off to a 9-5 start but is 3-0 within the MRAC to stand as the last unbeaten team in conference play after taking down last season’s MRAC — and 4A state tournament — champion Bishop Heelan and East.
The Warriors’ campaign has been a gauntlet so far, as the returning state semifinalists aren’t sneaking up on anyone this season. The team’s five losses have been to Glenwood, Class 2A No. 2 Hinton, 3A No. 1 Western Christian and 3A No. 5 Cherokee (twice).
“We can’t rely on what we did last season,” Winkel said. “We have to keep building on that, but we’ve seen what’s there and how Bre can take over big games for us, and she’s done that this year, too.”
As Van Den Top’s raw totals have gone up, so too has her efficiency. So far in 2025, her swing percentage is a career-best .383 while she’s contributing in several more areas for the Warriors as she entered Tuesday night with 25 blocks and 20 aces.
Her 3.6 kills per set ranks seventh in 4A, and she’s also in the top 15 within the class in averaging 0.8 blocks per set.
“Her vertical is insane,” said Winkel. “She jumps so high. Her whole career, she’s had the ability to hit over people, but what’s really set her apart, I think, is that lately, she’s learned to hit other shots with that, too.
“She can put the ball anywhere she wants on the court, and that ability really takes her above and beyond.”
As of last summer, Van Den Top’s AAU team, MVP Volleyball, measured her block reach at 9 feet, 2 inches and her approach touch at 9 feet, 8 inches.
“Playing club and really liking the culture around the sport of volleyball definitely helped me fall in love with it,” she said. “Being around the MVP program and at SB-L, seeing the girls that played before me and playing with them really helped me grow as a player.”
She was a third team all-stater in 4A last season and third-team, a unanimous pick to the all-MRAC first team and ended the campaign by being named to the 4A all-state tournament team, as her season included going for 358 kills (3.4 per set), 79 total blocks, 26 aces and a serve success rate of nearly 90%.
Her .306 kill efficiency mark last season was the best in the MRAC of any player who recorded over 200 swings.
“We knew she could do it,” Winkel said. “We really pushed her (as an underclassman) to be our go-to hitter, and she’s done a great job with it. Last year, she just took it to a whole new level.
“It’s been fun to see her grow as a player.”
As a sophomore, she led the Warriors with 303 kills (3.5 per set) on .143 efficiency with 26 blocks, 89 digs, and a team-best 37 aces.
She was second on the team as a freshman in 2022 with 117 kills (1.6 per set) with a .166 efficiency plus 28 blocks, 21 digs and four aces.
Van Den Top has also been a key contributor to the SB-L girls’ basketball team, making 38 career starts and appearing in 63 games for the hoops squad.
With nearly 500 career points scored, Van Den Top has averaged more than eight points a game over the past two seasons. She’s also used her vertical to be one of the team’s top rebounders (211 career boards) to go with three-year totals of 117 assists and 93 steals.
As far as plans after high school, she’s committed to playing volleyball at the University of Sioux Falls.
“I really like the coaches there, the campus and really the city of Sioux Falls,” she said.
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