Cimmiyotti joins elite company

Cimmiyotti, a second-team all-state winner, led the Riverhawks to a top-6 ranking, 22 match victories, 59 set wins and she was also the team leader in every statistical category, as she was named TD’s Most Valuable Player.

As one of 13 2015 all-state winners, Cimmiyotti is quick to defer any individual credit, but would rather savor the moment with her teammates and coaches, who helped mold and shape the person and all-star athlete she is today.

“This is definitely a team award, because without my team, I wouldn’t have been able to get this,” Cimmiyotti said. “As a team, we have accomplished everything we have. Not just one person. I will miss all my teammates extremely next year and I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without the support of my coach, Neticia Fanene. She has coached me into the player that I am. I have learned so much from her. She is an incredible coach.”

With the 22 match wins, the Riverhawks posted 18 combined sweeps, nine coming in non-tournament matches.

Included in some of those wins was TD’s first road win over Pendleton since Sept. 28, 2006, a sweep, where Cimmiyotti went for 10 kills, seven digs and four blocks in a match played on Sept. 22.

She would then add a top effort on Sept. 24 against Hood River Valley with 15 kills and 10 digs to lead the Hawks to a sweep.

Two days later at the Parkrose Tournament, Cimmiyotti totaled 29 kills, three blocks, five service aces and 24 digs to lead the Hawks to a tournament crown.

At the beginning of the season, Fanene said that if she would have said TD would end up as the sixth-ranked team going into the state tournament, people would have laughed.

“The key to our success this year was the willingness to put in the hard work every day in practice,” Fanene said. “Lori was part of that leadership. She has experienced a season ranked last in 5A (2013 record 2-13) and was our Most Valuable Player in 2015 pushing our team to a 22-5 record and finishing sixth in state.”

On Sept. 30 against Hermiston, Cimmiyotti slammed down two consecutive kills to break a 28-all tie to lead her team to its seventh consecutive non-tournament sweep and a third-straight sweep over a Columbia River Conference opponent, this one over Hermiston.

Cimmiyotti had 12 kills, three blocks and 15 digs in the triumph.

Cimmiyotti also set a new career-high 24 kills, 15 digs, two blocks and an ace, as the Riverhawks staked claim to a four-game triumph over Pendleton on Oct. 1.

Against Parkrose in a state play-in match played on Oct. 27, Cimmiyotti had five kills, three aces, seven digs and a block.

In her final career match on Oct. 31 in The Dalles, Cimmiyotti had eight kills, 3.5 blocks and 13 digs.

Cimmiyotti leaves a legacy of winning for the up-and-coming athletes to follow in the future.

Having her voice and her actions there paving the way will go a long way towards continuing the program’s upswing, Fanene said.

“I think it was important to her for the younger girls to know that it is not easy. It takes hard work, discipline and a desire beyond your daily effort, beyond your expectations,” Fanene said. “We will miss Lori, but she has left her footprints in the sand and placed her name in the record books. She is part of a team that has set the bar and set a new standard that we will not settle for less and we put in the work to get it done.”

Looking back, Cimmiyotti said she felt from the beginning that she could have been able to play at that higher level, but knew that it was going to take a lot of work and discipline to be able to achieve it.

“A couple important factors for athletes if they want to add progression is based on choices,” Cimmiyotti said. “Certain choices can either hurt you or make you better and I feel like most things you do have a choice to them and you have to make the right one. Also dedication, hard work and school, and being a good teammate is very important as well.”

Cimmiyotti has been playing at the varsity level since her freshman year.

Fanene said that every year Cimmiyotti has taken steps to become the player she was this season.

It started with dedicating every summer to getting better, filling and sharing her summer break days with Mid-Columbia Medical Center training workouts, basketball practices and volleyball.

“It was a great experience to watch her grow as an individual and an athlete over her high school volleyball career,” Fanene said. “To be successful at a high level, it takes time, discipline, commitment, emotional toughness and Lori made sure these things happened for herself and her team.”

Fanene remembers one particular moment when the light turned on for Cimmiyotti, her junior season in 2014, in a home match against Hermiston.

“She was not staying down and low on defense in the back row so I took her out. She didn’t play backrow for the rest of that match,” Fanene said. “The frustration I expected, and wanted from her, so she came to me asking, ‘why?’ She was very upset with me. I said, ‘ok, then fix it.’ From that point on, she nearly led in digs the rest of the season and was our biggest passer this year.”

With more than double the number of swings she took last year, Cimmiyotti finished with a .240 hitting average this past fall.

Not only did she average four kills a set for a total of 258 kills, but she played a big role defensively with a total of 239 digs and 50 blocks on the season. She also added 24 aces.

All those numbers aside, Fanene categorized Cimmiyotti as a humbled athlete that wanted to lead her team by example.

Her duties included being a voice for her team, to set a precedent in the classroom and be a significant influence in her team’s success.

“This award means a lot to me and is a great honor to have been able to be awarded with,” Cimmiyotti said.