Brick By Brick
Goessel Varsity Volleyball @ Goessel v. Herington and Little River
Since the inception of the Wheat State League in 2010-2011, Goessel volleyball has continued to work hard and has achieved a level of success achieved by very few other Kansas teams. In 8 consecutive seasons of the league’s existence, the Bluebirds have not lost a single league regular season volleyball match. Only in 2010, the very first year of the league’ formation, when Goessel lost the league tournament championship, have the Blue fallen to a Wheat State League opponent. With the graduation of the last of a chain of talented players, the ‘Birds of 2018 are in rebuild mode and have chosen the motto “Brick by Brick” to symbolize that quest to return to the years where a trip to Hays was the quintessential annual reward for incredible effort and wonderful coaching.
Goessel began its season last week against Herington and Haven at Ell-Saline, playing excellently and winning both matches and starting the season 2-0. Tonight, the Bluebirds went up against Wheat State League rivals Herington and Little River in their first home matchup of the young season. Both Herington and Goessel have 7 seniors on the roster but Herington carries 4 players 5’10” + and Goessel lists 1.
Goessel will rely on continuing to improve its defensive play, serving and blocking since there are no longer the plethora of finishers on the court the Bluebirds have been accustomed to. All State KVA First teamer Senior Savanna Wuest is sure to figure big time in the Bluebird setting/hitting mix, while libero Senior Audessi Unruh adds a huge steady hand on receive/pass. The ability of Seniors Cierra Nolte and Stephany Meyer to grow and step in to huge new roles, the athleticism and fire of Freshman Kaleigh Guhr, and whether Senior Madi Smith, Sophomores Lizzie Schmucker and Raechel Boese, and Junior Elizabeth Alderfer can all come together to raise the Bluebird game remains to be seen.
Goessel came fired up and ready to play; with total dominance in the league for nearly a decade, even being on the court with the Bluebirds has been intimidating to other teams in the past. The two teams traded shots back and forth, with Wuest pounding cross-court to stay at 6-6. Goessel committed an uncharacteristic 5 service errors the first set and pounded long several times on kill attempts. Herington put up an excellent effort, showing good receive/pass, making very few net errors and pulled away to 10-15. Meyer and Alderfer combined for a key block to stay at 13-17, then Meyer and Wuest stuffed another shot on the right. Two Wuest finishes kept it close at 17-21, but the Railers pulled away with some nice finishes to close 18-25. Goessel earned 15 and Herington 13 with the Bluebirds committing 12 errors to only 3 for the visitors.
After a short break, in the 2nd set Goessel earned 6 points on great touches and two aces from Smith to lead 6-3. With Volkman at the line, however, the Herington squad ran off 9 straight to take the 6-12 lead, earning most of those points. The Bluebirds could not recover and despite some nice tips and a jump ace from Wuest, a nifty left side shot from Boese and crushing shot in the middle from Meyer, the deficit was too large to overcome and Goessel yielded to the much improved Herington squad 17-25. Overall in the set, the Bluebirds earned only 12 of their 17 and the Railers earned 15 of their 25, with errors on the Bluebirds again causing the home team great duress. If Herington keeps up this level of play, they figure to be a contender for a top space in the league.
Against rival Little River, the lead only changed hands thrice. Smith found the range with an ace in the NE corner. Wuest crushed one so hard every foreign exchange student in the student cheering section got an electrical zap on their phone. Wuest took the ‘Birds up again from the left side with another crosscourt shot that looked just like a certain familiar “Hiebert” from the past. Little River grabbed the lead at 8-9 on a carry, but Goessel came back with a nice right side effort from Nolte. On a short set in the middle from Wuest, Meyer drilled it and the Redskins called time at 14-11. With some nice close in net play, Goessel stayed on task and ran it to 18-12 with Schmucker at the line. Boese found the range again with a crowd pleasing shot to continue the momentum. Alderfer came through strong tonight, closing on the right and Wuest pummeled one from the same location. Guhr delivered from the service line, putting up ever increasing velocity with each effort and ran off 6 straight serves including three of the final four points as aces. The last point of the set involved a service so hot the blue tape targets on the wall peeled off spontaneously. Goessel 25-14. Goessel earned 15 points but continued to make entirely too many unforced errors.
In the 2nd set, the visiting fans could smell victory and were ready to accept that possibility. The Blue went up 4-1 on great finishes from Meyer and Alderfer, but the Redskins stormed back to retake the lead 4-5. Wuest glowed with a left side shot that rocked the Skittles out of the concession stand. After a nice left side tip, #26 went to the line and absolutely baked a topspin jump-serve that dove so fast no one could touch it. 13-8. Little River put in two aces, but Wuest responded with a quick slide to Nolte, who can finish when given a good opportunity. With nerves showing on the home team, the Redskins tied it up at 18-18 and Coach Guhr called time. In a key play, Nolte found the range with a topspin roller that fell in to give Goessel the lead 20-19. Little River retook the lead 20-22 with solid net play and pretty finger tip setting. Wuest stepped to the line and powered two consecutive aces to retake the lead for good 23-22. A right side finish from Nolte took it to 24-22 but the Redskins blocked to close to 1, 24-23. Front row player #15 (Little River mysteriously did not provide a player roster) stepped to the line and drilled the final serve into the right side of the net to let the Bluebirds slide to the win 25-23. In this set, Goessel only made 5 errors, their best effort of the night, as Little River earned 18 of their 23 points.
Goessel goes to 3-1 on the year so far with the two matches of the evening. Goessel will host its annual tournament at home on Saturday. Brick by brick!
-Karl Brubaker
