Athletes of the Week: Sydney Golden & Jaycee Fixsen, Nixa

fixsen-and-golden

In life, there’s a saying that good things come in pairs.

One half of Nixa’s all-state volleyball pair is setter Sydney Golden. 

Last year, Golden set the state’s single-season assist record with 1,163. She entered the season ranked No. 4 all-time in state history in career assists.

“She’s super fast and she reads the ball extremely well, so there is no wasted movement, there are no wasted steps,” said Nixa Head Coach Annie Zimmerman.

The other half is hitter Jaycee Fixsen, who tallied 438 kills last season.

“She’s able to now have a little bit more vision, even as she’s looking up at the ball, she can still kind of somewhat see what’s out there in front of her,” Zimmerman said.

Add the two halves together, and the Eagles have themselves a perfect match.

“It’s funny because we have this thing where [Jaycee] tells me she sees it in my eyes when she thinks I’m going to set her,” Sydney said. “She’s like ‘I can see it, I can tell you’re about to set me.’”

“Whenever it’s time to get points and everything, I feel like our connection, we just trust each other so much that we know we can take care of the job and get that point done,” Jaycee said.

It’s a connection so close these two best friends might seem more like sisters.

“It’s definitely something that’s really special, that does not just happen overnight,” Zimmerman said.

It’s maybe most obvious with their communication on the court.

“We’re able to be super honest with each other, so like giving feedback, even if it is like ‘come on, do this, do that’,” Sydney said.

“If I’m playing bad, [Sydney will] tell me ‘you need to pick it up,’ and I’m like ‘okay, got it’,” Jaycee said with a smile.

It’s part of the journey for these teammates trying to win the program’s second state title in three years.

It’s a journey these two seniors will enjoy one final time together.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to play with someone or love playing with someone as much as her,” Jaycee said. “We’ve always been together, she’s my best friend and it’s going to be really hard not playing with each other.”

Jaycee will play for Missouri State next year while Sydney will play for Northern Iowa, meaning the two best friends will become conference rivals in college.

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