Longhorns battle injuries along with opponents during season

    Every week was something new this season for the Chase County volleyball team as the squad worked to find the right combination to offset injuries and other challenges.
    Head Coach April Lambert said the Longhorns changed in 5,000 ways this season.
    “We ran a different lineup almost every week of the season this year right up until conference because we had to refigure the team after Gisselle (Acuna’s) injury in late July,” Lambert said.
    The process of finding the right line up took a long time, she said, trying to figure out how the pieces might fit best and also train up the skill and confidence of younger players stepping into bigger roles.
    It seemed like we would just get it figured out and then someone would get injured or something wouldn’t work in a game situation and we would be back to the drawing board. In the end, the biggest change was just the confidence and belief in themselves that they were good volleyball players and a good team who had what it took to compete at a high level,” Lambert said.
    CCS had six seniors on the roster, but only four saw playing time.
    Kaylie Lotspeich and Gisselle Acuna both missed the season with knee injuries, but each stuck with the team through the season.
    Lambert said Lotspeich really developed as a leader and a person and helped out younger players as they learned.
    “Her commitment to the team this season was just unprecedented,” she added.
    Acuna was headed to her best season yet, Lambert said, before suffering her second knee injury of her career.
    “To go through what she has gone through as an athlete is incredibly difficult,” Lambert said, adding she’s hopeful Acuna will be able to play in college.
    “She is just so, so talented, and she was a big leader for our younger girls helping them from the bench,” Lambert said.
    Ali McNair served as a defensive specialist for the Loongorns.
    “Her teammates love the emotion that she brings to the game and her level of commitment to always doing her best is inspiring. Ali ended up being one of our strongest servers this season because she continued to work on that aspect of her game right up until her senior year,” Lambert said.
    Joee Clevenger has been a three year starter for the Longhorns and set the schools career total points record.
    After pushing herself as a six rotation player over her career, Lambert said it was fun to see Clevenger just finally settle into her talents and abilities on the court.
    “She played with a lot of confidence and commitment to leading by example,” Lambert said, pointing out Clevenger had one of her best games as a hitter in the subdistrict final against Ogallala Oct. 25.
    “That is what I will always remember about Joee’s senior season is that she just stepped up and did the hard things without a lot of talk about any of it,” Lambert said, and added the hip bruises Clevenger had during the season show how hard she was willing to go
    Elizabeth Reeves was an emotional leader for the team.
    “Liz has always done what we’ve asked her to do for the team, even when her role wasn’t easy for herself individually, and that is really inspirational. She has a killer serve and really amped up her defense this year. She worked hard to be able to read better and move faster, and it did not go unnoticed,” Lambert said.
    Bryn McNair set school records for career kills, career good passes and career total attacks.
    “It was fun to see Bryn really relax into volleyball this year. I think as a younger player, volleyball frustrated her a little bit, but you could see that last year she finally had this realization that she was pretty good at it, and this year it was fun to see her dominate aspects of her game that had been frustrating to her as a sophomore, like her back court defense,” Lambert said.
     The University of Nebraska-Omaha volleyball commit, B. McNair played lots of different roles, and it was really fun to see her leading at the net and talking to younger girls between plays.
    “Her knowledge, experience, and skill will definitely be missed,” Lambert said, but added, it’s really exciting to see what B. McNair will be able to do collegiately.
    Junior Tristan Nordhausen, sophmores Landree McNair and Olivia Spady and freshmen Karlie Anderson and Riley Rusher played in at least 72 of the Longhorns’ 84 sets this season.
    “We had so many younger girls step up into big roles this season that I want to commend. They had to learn a lot really quickly and they just worked hard but also had a really positive attitude throughout all of it. I think they knew that even though there were big expectations and a big learning curve, the other coaches, players, and I were there to help them grow and get better,” Lambert said.
    The Longhorns were playing some of their best ball at the season’s end.
    Chase County’s subdistrict game against Hershey stood out to Lambert as the best of the season. After losing twice to the Panthers in nine days, including SPVA finals and a five setter on Hershey’s home court, the Longhorns beat Hershey in five sets Oct. 24.
    “The girls just executed every element of the game so perfectly and persistently. We served 97% with 13 aces—our most of the season—which is just unreal. In 99 serves that whole match to only miss three is crazy,” Lambert said.
    “That was just a fun match and fun win that the girls really deserved this season because they worked incredibly hard for it, not only that night but also in the two weeks of practice leading up to it. To see them reach their goal was really fun and made me really proud of them,” she added.
    While the team hit a high near the end, a September game was a low. After losing to state-bound Cambridge at the McCook Invite, the Longhorns had to turnaround and play McCook for its final game.
    “We were feeling pretty defeated. Things just weren’t working out at that time and there was a lot of frustration. People weren’t playing their best and we weren’t gelling yet as a team,” Lambert said.
    Although CCS won the match, Lambert said there were some tears after the match and it was hard, but it ended up being a turning point in the season.
    “The thing I hope they take away from that moment is that even when things are hard, you can’t give up your belief in yourself. You’ve worked way too hard to do that, and in many ways, believing in yourself and how you compete matters way more than the end result, whatever it is,” she said.     Looking over a season where the Longhorns played seven teams that made it to state, Minden, Grand Island Northwest, Southwest, Cambridge, Overton, Gothenburg and Sidney, plus district finalists Scottsbluff and Ogallala and Colorado Class 2A #2 Sedgwick County and South Dakota AA #8 Rapid City Stevens, Lambert said she wants people to know that Chase County’s record of 16-16 doesn’t really reflect the ability level and talent of this team.
    “Our schedule this year was incredibly difficult-—we played the most Division I teams I’ve ever played in a season, but in the end, this was a very skilled team and that schedule made us better,” she said.
    “We were dealt some pretty tough cards this season with injuries, but I am so proud of how the girls played through it all and grew together,” Lambert added.
    “I just want people to know that they are not only really good volleyball players but also really good people and teammates and really hard workers. That’s what a 16-16 record won’t show,” she said.
    “It’s always hard to be the first sport of the school year. We are responsible for on-boarding the freshmen into high school activities and helping upperclassmen grow as leaders for the first time in that role. I’m excited to see what these girls take with them and will do together in the winter and spring sports and activities seasons because of their growth during the volleyball season. We truly have some all-star talent and all-star people in our programs,” Lambert said.