Paige Thies named 2023-24 Gatorade Oregon Volleyball Player of the Year

Oregon City's Paige Thies (11) looks around the gym after a point during the Pioneers' win over St. Mary's on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023 at St. Mary's School in Portland. Linus Brush-Mindell for The Oregonian/OregonLive

January 8, 2024

Press Release by the Gatorade Player of the Year Program

CHICAGO (January 8, 2024) — In its 39th year of honoring the nation’s most elite high school athletes, Gatorade today announced Paige Thies of Oregon City High School is the 2023-24 Gatorade Oregon Volleyball Player of the Year. Thies is the second Gatorade Oregon Volleyball Player of the Year to be chosen from Oregon City High School.

The award, which celebrates the nation’s top high school athletes for excellence on the court, in the classroom and in the community, distinguishes Thies as Oregon’s best high school volleyball player. From CEOs and coaches to star athletes, Gatorade Player of the Year winners showcase the power of sport, touting an all-star group of alumni that includes Harper Murray (2022-23, Skyline High School, Mich.), Kerri Walsh Jennings (1995-96, Archbishop Mitty High School, Calif.) and April Ross (1999-00, Newport Harbor High School, Calif.).

The 6-foot-2 junior outside hitter recorded 404 kills and 125 digs this past season, leading the Pioneers (19-4) to the Class 6A state championship match. Thies added 35 service aces while posting a .510 kill percentage and a .396 hitting percentage. Ranked as the nation’s No. 97 recruit in the Class of 2025 by PrepDig.com, Thies was also the Oregonian Player of the Year. She concluded her junior year with 1,303 kills in her prep volleyball career.

Thies has volunteered locally as a youth volleyball coach. “Paige Thies is incredible,” said Jesse Abell, head coach of Tigard High School. “She’s on another level. What makes her great is she has an absolute cannon for an arm. She crushes everything that comes out her way.”

Thies has maintained a weighted 4.02 GPA in the classroom. She has made a verbal commitment to play volleyball on scholarship at the University of Arizona beginning in the fall of 2025.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which leverages experts including coaches, scouts, media and others as sources to help evaluate and determine the state winners in each sport.

Thies joins recent Gatorade Oregon Volleyball Players of the Year Alexis Haury (2022-23 & 2021-22, Silverton High School), Daley McClellan (2020-21, Canby High School) and Izzi Szulczewski (2019-20, Mountainside High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.

As part of Gatorade’s commitment to breaking down barriers in sport, every Player of the Year also receives a grant to donate to a social impact partner. To date, Gatorade Player of the Year winners’ grants have totaled more than $4.9 million across more than 1,600 organizations.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate studentathletes, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com or follow us on social media on Facebook at facebook.com/GatoradePOY, Instagram at instagram.com/Gatorade and Twitter at twitter.com/Gatorade.

Paige Thies joins the following Oregon City student-athletes as Gatorade Players of the Year for Oregon:

Girls - State Winners

2023-24 - Volleyball - Paige Thies

2003-04 - Girls Basketball - Kristen Forristall

2002-03 - Girls Basketball - Ashley Gonnerman

1997-98 - Girls Basketball - Lindsey Yamasaki

1997-98 - Volleyball - Lindsey Yamasaki

1996-97 - Girls Basketball - Ashley Smith

1996-97 - Volleyball - Lindsey Yamasaki

1994-95 - Girls Basketball - Tammy Arnold

1990-91 - Girls Basketball - Kim Wilkerson

1989-90 - Girls Basketball - Anne McShane

1987-88- Girls Basketball - Karen Alcorn

Boys - State Winners

2012-13 - Boys Track & Field - Beau Brosseau

2007-08 - Boys Basketball - Brad Tinsley

1996-97 - Baseball - Scott Ackerman