LADY LONGHORNS COMPLETE SUCCESSFUL VOLLEYBALL SEASON

The 2015 Kimball High Volleyball Season will go into the books as one of the most successful in the history of the sport for the Lady Longhorns with an overall win-loss record of 17-10. The junior varsity finished 9-6 and the freshman team was 4-5.

It was a very enjoyable season for first year head coach Jeri Ferguson who expressed that sentiment. "We had some success and a lot of fun. Coach Monheiser and I were very pleased at the progress everyone made."

Some of the season team-highlights were winning the GordonRushville Tournament, both the varsity and junior varsity divisions. The varsity finished in the runner-up spot in both the SPVA and Western Trails Conference Tournaments, and were the WTC overall season-champions. The freshman team placed 3rd in the freshman-junior varsity tournament at Morrill.

Individual post season honors included senior Danika Daum being named WTC All Conference and also the WTC Most Valuable Player, and SPVA All Conference First Team. Senior Madison Biesecker was also WTC All Conference and SPVA All Conference First Team. Seniors Mikayla Fiehtner and Ali Hunsaker were also WTC All Conference, senior Myriah Tyan was WTC All Conference Honorable Mention as was junior Raelynn Hinton. Daum and Biesecker will both continue the sport at the college level with Daum recruited by WNCC in Scottsbluff and Biesecker to play at Southeast Community College in Beatrice.

Coach Ferguson said "One reason the varsity was able to have so much success was because of the way the younger players improved and thus pushed the varsity. One aspect of sports that I believe we have lost a little and would like to get back is the belief by some athletes that if they are not a starter, they are not important and do not need to go out. Nothing could be further from the truth. A key factor for teams to be successful is hard practices with great competition. That was one of the reasons we were able to have success this year."

Ferguson went on to say "I will miss the seniors but wish them the very best as they venture off into the rest of their lives. Coach Monheiser and I are excited to continue to work with our players coming back. We have already started to make plans for the summer off-season."

Ferguson also said that she and coach Monheiser are most proud of the fact that before the season, the seniors set a goal for the team to have an accumulative GPA of 3.00 and at the end of the first nine weeks, the volleyball girls had an accumulative GPA of 3.495. "We are so proud of them for accomplishing this goal," she said.

Ferguson also said "I would like to thank the student managers we had this past season. We really appreciated them and all of their hard work. They were fantastic!" Those girls were Kayla Schoenemann, Lexi Hoppes, Carli Wurdeman, Sydney Biesecker, and Brooklin Golding. Ferguson also praised videographer Kaylynn Nelson and stat man Spencer Shields.

Like always, Ferguson wanted to praise her assistant coach Erin Monheiser. "I would personally like to thank Coach Monheiser for being such a special person. She is very knowledgeable about volleyball and works tremendously with our young ladies. I so enjoyed working with her and look forward to working with her again next season."

No doubt this year's class of seniors will be missed as they were very athletic as their stats and accomplishments show. There were 7 total, meaning lots of starting positions to fill next season. The seniors who will leave the program include Danika Daum, Madison Biesecker, Ali Hunsaker, Ireland Olson, Mikayla Fiehtner, Madie Snyder, and Myriah Tyan. Raelynn Hinton, a junior, will be the lone returning starter off this year's team. There are returning young players coming back who will work hard to keep a winning tradition however. Congrats to the Kimball coaches and players for an outstanding season and a job well done.