Season Preview: 3A Volleyball

Technically, Sabetha's volleyball team only won one Class 3A state championship last fall, the Bluejays earning the first title in program history with a grueling three-set 25-19, 25-27, 25-23 win over Smoky Valley in the championship match.

But one might be hard-pressed to convince Bluejay coach Abby Stueve that her team survived not just one, but two state tournaments a year ago on its way to its crown.

Just to get to the state tournament, Sabetha had to come out of a sub-state that featured five teams ranked in the top 10 of the final Kansas Volleyball Association rankings in Class 3A, including defending 3A champion Royal Valley and perennial power Silver Lake.

"It was tough," Stueve said of the loaded sub-state. "It's probably the coolest part to our whole story, that our sub-state was so tough it very well could have been a state tournament. So to come out of that playing as strong as we did was really cool.

"It comes down to you have to win any way. Whether the road is hard or easy, you have to win and make a name for yourself that way if you want to win that title. If it's hard or easy, you have to just do it"

Sabetha rode the momentum of that sub-state triumph to a season unmatched in program history. In winning the program's first state title, the Bluejays finished the year 41-1 with the lone loss coming to Royal Valley at the Bluejay's home tournament.

Graduation has taken its toll, claiming four starters including three players who earned All-Class 3A honors from the KVA – first-teamers Melinna Schumann and Leah Renyer and honorable mention pick Camryn Wessel.

Without question, those will be huge holes to fill. Schumann and Renyer each racked up just more than 390 kills while Wessel added 174. Along with departed Erin Deters, the Bluejays also lost four of their top-five blockers at the net as well.

But as daunting as the challenge of filling those holes appears, consider this. Going into last season, the Bluejays were replacing seven seniors off the 2019 team that went 33-9 and returned just two starters.

"That's kind of our mentality," Stueve said of dealing with graduation losses. "This is this year's team. It has nothing to do with what we lost, what we did last year. We have to take care of our own this year so we have to have girls step up and play their roles for us to be successful. I think we have a good understanding of that. We haven't had any 'Well, this is what we did last year,' so we have a good mind set."

That starts with the return of four-year starting setter Emily Krebs, who was a second-team All-Class 3A selection last year and was one of just two returning starters a year ago. Junior Mary Lukert blossomed as the season went along last year and has taken on an even bigger leadership role this season.

But Stueve is excited to see how the remaining pieces fall into place, including the addition of a pair of talented freshman, Aubrey Schmelzle and Erin Boltz.

"I think it's always exciting to see the new girls coming in," Stueve said.

While winning a state championship will put a target on Sabetha's back, Stueve said talk of a repeat isn't something that's been prevalent as they embark on the 2021 season.

"We try to scaffold that kind of talk," she said. "We don't talk about, 'Hey, we want to win state.' We talk about the little goals. We want to have 98% serving, things like that because if we can accomplish those day-to-day, then you accomplish the big goals. It's always in the back of our minds, for sure, but it's always let's take of the little things and the big things will come."

Class 3A is loaded with contenders poised to dethrone the Bluejays, starting with last year's runner-up Smoky Valley. The Vikings return Class 3A player of the year Abby Rose, but must replace her supporting cast.

TMP-Marian and Goodland battled in last year's quarterfinals with Goodland advancing and eventually placing fourth. The Cowgirls return the bulk of their squad while TMP returns a big-time 1-2 punch led by seniors Kassidi Yost and Emilee Lane.

Led by second-team All-3A pick Brooke Wewe, Cheney will be a threat as well, while Sabetha's Big Seven League rivals Nemaha Central and Royal Valley also return plenty of firepower to unseat the Bluejays in the league race. Mid-East League rivals Silver Lake and Rossville both return key pieces with the Eagles annually among the short list of contenders for titles in Class 3A.