Volleyball team eyes top seeded Wagner

The celebration is over and now it is back to business for the Custer volleyball team as it heads to Watertown for state play Nov. 19-21. Seeded at number eight, Custer will battle number one seed Wagner  in first round action on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 11 p.m., MST.

Up through region play Wagner compiled a record of 31-1, while Custer was 22-10 on the season. Custer coach Renae Schneider isn’t letting Wagner’s lack of loses scare the team.

“We know Wagner is beatable on any given day and we know we can play at a high level, just as long as we continue what we have been doing,” she said. 

What the Lady ’Cats have been doing as of late is winning. Since the Lakota Nationâ��Invitational tournament in early October, Custer has won nine of 10 games. Two of those wins came against Black Hills Conference foe, St. Thomas More (STM) one of which sent Custer to its first ever state tournament birth, which is quite a feeling to those new to the volleyball team and those who have been there for a while. 

“Going to state is the most amazing feeling the world,” said senior middle hitter Shawn Gibson. “We have put in many hours to get to state. Knowing the town and your classmates are behind you make it that much better.”

Like STM, Wagner is full of heavy hitters. Four of its players—Jilanne Doom, Alexa Cimpl, Devonâ��Brecke and Kami Hoeke—are consistently in the top five hitter rankings in the state.

“They have good hitters and they play smart ball,”  said Schneider.

To prepare for the power of Wagner, Schneider has had the team working on its blocking and getting the outside blockers to close the gap so they can take some things away.

“We have good blockers,” she said. “We just need to be able to get our hands on the ball and allow our back row players to use their skills.”  

Not only does Custer have good blockers, but the team also houses the number one killer in the state, Melissa Flores. Flores leads the state in total number of kills, 374, and currently is fourth in hitting percentage. Needless to say, Wagner will have its hands just as full when Flores bombards the net.

Schneider has also had the team work on the usual drills—coverge, communication, serving and hitting—to get them back in the right mental zone for state. She also told the team not to be satisfied with just the region and district titles.

“She told us we can do better,” senior libero Ellie Parsons said.

Parsons, who leads the state in aces/set continued, “We have a lot in store for us, so we need to work hard.”

Playing the top ranked team while you are last can have a frightening effect on a team, so Schneider is making sure the team stays positive.

“We cannot have the mind set that we are defeated before we step on the court,” she said.

Although Custer’s team is new to state-level play, this isn’t the coach’s first rodeo.

“It is nice to be able to have coaches who  have played at the state level,” Schneider said. “We know what it is like as a player and what will be going through their minds. They need to relax and take it like any other game. They need to be proud of the fact they are at that stage, but not satisfied just to get there. We want to prove that West River volleyball can compete.”

As long as the Lady ’Cats don’t defeat themselves, Custer will prove that point. 

“We have a really good chance of doing well,” Parsons said. 

Gibson agrees.

“We could take first if we just believe in ourselves and stay positive,” she said. “We just need to go in knowing we can play with anyone and just relax. That’s the main thing.”

Like Hot Springs and STM, will Wagner fall to the underdog Lady ’Cats? The possibility for another upset does loom.

“We will bring home a championship if we play to our potential,” Schneider said. “If these girls go out there with determination and aggressiveness that we have seen the last two weeks, anything can happen.”

The games will be broadcast on  the South Dakota Public Boardcast channel.