Young Lady Broncos continue program’s success

    With only one senior on the floor and a brand new coach for this season’s Wauneta-Palisade volleyball, it could have been easy to lower expectations.
    Instead the Broncos returned to the RPAC semifinals and district finals for the third-straight year.
    Overall, WP finished 16-14.
    “I definitely think this season was a success for the girls and myself,” said first-year Head Coach Katie Lawless.
    There was a bit of a transition for the players just seeing Lawless in a new light as the head coach rather than an assistant, but she said she feels like they adjusted well.
    “We made some big role changes for some girls and they all just did a really nice job embracing their roles and working hard to improve. We all learned a lot about volleyball and about life and that’s exactly what it’s about,” Lawless added.
    Lawless said she’s known this year’s two seniors since they were eighth graders, journey with them and she appreciates them more than they know.
    Alexa Sandman had three years of starting experience and was a two-year starter at libero before moving to outside hitter this year.
    Lawless said Sandman embraced a new role this season playing all six rotations.
    “She really did a great job adjusting and was one of our go to hitters out of system or when we needed to score. She lead the team in serving aces and was just a really solid player for us all the way around,” Lawless said.
    Sandman had a team high 80 aces, 322 digs and 420 service receptions.
    Classmate Emily Stehno was an extremely vocal player who embraced everything she was given this season, according to Lawless.
     “She played a couple different positions with the JV squad and was an extremely consistent hitter for that team and also extremely valuable in helping the underclassmen stay organized,” Lawless said.
    With new players in new places, Lawless said she’s proud of all the players.
    Besides Sandman hitting, junior Cali Cox moved to middle hitter. Freshman Izzy Stehno also took over a middle hitter position.
    “The amount of growth they both showed over the season in their blocking was so great to see,” Lawless said.
    Rounding the starting lineup was juniors Halle Bardsley and Chloe Stehno, sophomores Peyton Cox and GraCee Goings. Sophomore Ryleigh McCrumb saw action at libero.
    Bardsley really did a nice job this season setting for WP from the back row, Lawless said.
    Running a 6-2, Bardsley still finished with 331 assists, right near the top of the RPAC, Lawless added.
    C. Stehno was key on WP’s right side for setting blocks.
    “We had a lot of success on the side blocking because she does such a great job with blocking and putting the block exactly where it needed to be consistently. That was a huge key for our defense to be able to get set up in the right places,” Lawless said.
    P. Cox, who served as a team captain with Sandman, was a very reliable player for the Broncos this season, Lawless said. P. Cox led WP with 273 kills.
    She played a huge role and was involved in almost every single play we had whether it be attacking or setting, Lawless said.
    Goings was just a work horse and who Lawless said would do anything for the team.
    “Defensively she always gained us so much momentum by just pure hustle plays because she’s so determined to play the ball. She actually was a really solid blocker as well and did a great job getting positive touches on balls. Attacking when she got on a ball she was hard to stop as well,” Lawless said.
    The team’s biggest strength was the players versatility and Lawless felt confident in putting any of these players anywhere on the floor and they would be able to do their jobs well.
    “We moved our front row around a lot to give different kids different blocks and opportunities and they all did a great job of doing that,” Lawless said.
    With main focuses on communication, serving and passing, serving and passing turned into strengths, Lawless said, but she added that WP had some struggles passing in a few games that the players worked hard to improve.
    Lawless said serving was definitely the Broncos’ strongest skill and really came on strong late in the season.
    “The kids did a really good job serving strategically and putting together why we would serve certain zones and just did great with becoming aggressive and consistent servers,” Lawless said.
    Looking over the season, Lawless said tournament wins at Paxton followed by a tough loss to 24-8 Anselmo-Merna, a team that went five sets with state runner up Humphrey St. Francis, was a high point, while finishing second at the Brady Tournament.
    Lawless also highlighted that the Broncos won all three five set matches they played, including back-to-back matches against Medicine Valley and Wallace.
    “I think that showed a lot of mental toughness from our kids and was extremely proud of those moments and how they performed,” Lawless said.
    Maintaining their RPAC and districts streaks were team goals, as was being a top serving team in the conference and one of the top passing teams in the conference.
    “We feel like we established that well this season,” Lawless said.
    Overall, Lawless said this entire group of girls was amazing and she feels so blessed to have had them in first year as the head coach.
     “We built great relationships and made a lot of memories that I will always cherish about this group. Laughing was a common thing during practice which made the hard work go by a little faster,” Lawless said.
    She said she started choosing a third player to be captain late in the season to show appreciation to girls that she felt were really stepping up when the team needed them to and to give some extra motivation to continue working hard.
    “I think being seen as a leader on the team is a really important feeling for a player and gives them a sense of pride in themselves. I feel like all of my players filled a different leadership role at some point in the season and wanted to show them appreciation for that,” Lawless said.
    “I am very excited for the future of this program with kids like this to inspire the younger girls. We are so lucky here at Wauneta-Palisade to have such quality student athletes and role models and I feel so blessed to be a part of it all,” Lawless added.

2021 Wauneta-Palisade Volleyball (16-14)
Aug. 26    Hitchcock County (16-15)    3-1
Aug. 28    Cambridge Tourney
    Rawlins Co. KS (16-18)    2-0
    Cambridge (27-6)    0-2
    Norton Comm., KS (14-18)    2-0
Sept. 3    @ Franklin (9-18)    3-2
Sept. 9    Rawlins Co., KS (16-18)    2-1
Sept. 9    St. Francis (31-6)    1-2
Sept. 11    Hitchcock County Invite
    Axtell (19-11)    0-2
    Alma (25-7)    0-2
    Arapahoe (7-16)    2-0
Sept. 14    Southwest (19-11)    1-3
Sept. 21    Paxton Tourney
    Potter-Dix (11-18)    2-0
    Paxton (13-16)    2-1
Sept. 25    Brady Tourney
    Anselmo-Merna (24-8)    1-2
    Sandhills Valley (16-14)    2-0
Sept. 28    Dundy Co.Stratton (0-27)    3-1
Sept. 30    @ Maywood-Hayes Center (28-3)            0-3
Oct. 5    Perkins County (17-14)    0-2
Oct. 5    Garden County (24-8)    0-2
Oct. 8    Sumner-Eddyville-Miller (23-8)                0-3
Oct. 12    Medicine Valley (9-15)    3-2
Oct. 15    @ Wallace (9-14)    3-2
Oct. 18-19    RPAC Tourney
    Maxwell (6-23)    3-0
    Hitchcock County (16-15)    3-1
    Alma (25-7)    0-3
    Maywood-Hayes Center (28-3)                0-3
Oct. 22    Axtell (19-11)    0-3
Oct. 25-26    Subdistrict D2-9
    Dundy Co. Stratton (0-27)    3-0
    Paxton (13-16)    3-1
Oct. 30    District Final D2-5
    @ Wynot (22-11)    0-3