Season Preview: 2A Volleyball

A year ago, Smith Center's hopes for another successful volleyball season hinged on how well a promising freshman class could mesh with a couple of already proven standouts.

It didn't take long for coach Nick Linn to realize the Lady Red had another winning formula, with Tallon Rentschler and Ashlyn Long leading the way and the freshmen stepping into key supporting roles.

Smith Center kept getting better from there, reaching the Class 2A championship match in Dodge City before falling to Olathe-Heritage Christian in two sets.

The Lady Red have all their key weapons back at their disposal, including all-state picks Rentschler and Long.

"We know what they can do," said Linn, entering his 36^th year at Smith Center. "The biggest question for this year is can we improve on it?

"We can't rest on what we've done. We've got to get better," Linn said.

Rentschler, a 6-foot middle hitter, and Long, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter, are the two focal points of the Smith Center attack, combining for 902 kills last year.

Rentschler, who has started since she was a freshman, was a first-team Kansas Volleyball Association Class 2A All-State selection last year, while Long earned second-team honors. Both were first-team All Mid-Continent League picks.

Rentschler is committed to Fort Hays State and Long to Hutchinson Community College.

"The things they do in practice, they're amazing, the way they can swing through a ball and put power behind and all those things," Linn said. "They're both backrow players, too, and they both can serve real well, too. Both of them are irreplaceable. I have no idea what next year's going to bring because they have been central figures for two or three years now.

"I think they've earned their (college opportunities) and it's a reflection of their hard work."

Sophomores Camryn Hutchinson, Dakota Kattenberg, Gracie Kirchoff and Tinley Rentschler, Tallon's younger sister, all played every set last year as freshmen for the Lady Red, who finished 35-8.

Hutchinson, who Linn called the team's floor general, was second-team All-MCL at setter last year while Kirchoff, an outside hitter, was honorable mention.  

Other players who saw significant action last tear include senior Maggie Peterson and juniors Maile Hrabe and Hailey Feldmann. Smith Center has 21 players out of volleyball in total.

As always, the Lady Red -- who have made state in seven of the last eight years -- will look to get battle tested early in the regular season with tough tournaments at Republic County, Hoisington and Concordia.
"We want to win the little battles first, and then we'll talk about the big thing in the end."

Linn said the Lady Red have already pin-pointed areas of improvement.

"We know what our faults are," he said. "We lost (in the title match last year) because we did not serve receive. Olathe had just an awesome, aggressive server, tough floaters in the corner of the court. When they put together five or six points in a row in a match like that, you can't overcome it.

"We know that our back row and serve-receive has to get better. In practice we're trying really hard to improve on that. The second thing is we've had to work on a little more aggressive serving."

Defending champ Heritage Christian figures to be in the mix again. The Chargers lost senior Class 2A KVA player of the year Katrina Davis at setter, but returns a strong core, including a pair of standout sophomores Rachel Van Gorp and Cy Rae Campbell. Van Gorp was a second-team KVA selection last year while Campbell was honorable mention.

Heritage Christian beat Smith Center twice in the state tournament, finishing 30-8.

Wabaunsee was third a year ago and returns first-team KVA pick Lauren Schutter. Hillsboro was fourth last year and brings back honorable mention KVA pick Sammie Saunders.

Linn also said not to count out several other traditional strong programs such as Pittsburg Colgan, Garden Plain, Belle Plaine, Sterling and Valley Heights.