Panthers ‘hungry’ in 2020

After a short layoff between summer sports and the fall season, a “hungry” Creston volleyball team is back in action, looking to build on 2019.

The Panthers finished 13-18 (1-9) en route to a Class 3A Region 3 semifinal appearance – the first Regional semifinal appearance and postseason win since 2015.

Second-year head coach Traci Haley said this season will be special for her after coaching the incoming senior class since eighth grade.

“Some of them were so little they could hardly serve over the net,” Haley said with a laugh, reminiscing on the senior class. “To see how far they’ve come and worked to this point, and see what kind of player they are today, is special.”

Familiar with the senior class and the crop of underclassmen moving up, Haley said this season will feel like another first-year season with COVID-19 regulations, but is confident in the core of the team.

Learning from last year as the Panthers’ commander in 2019, Haley said sge experienced “a learning year and the Hawkeye 10 proved to be tough and definitely a challenge.”

“We could have won so many of those matches,” Haley said. “We took Denison-Schleswig to game five, and we took Clarinda to game five. Those are disappointing losses when you’ve fought so hard.

“We want to come out on top,” she said. “We took a game from Lewis-Central, big booster there. We lost to Atlantic, some down moments. We’re just going to kind of touch on those, reflect on those and say, ‘hey, we were there. We just need to step it up and push through that.”

This year, the Panthers have expectations for themselves.

Haley said when one player gets thrown in, they’re “hungry enough to go get them and build on what we’re expecting from them.”

The look for the Panthers will be similar to last, with upperclassmen like Kelsey Fields, Sam Dunphy and Rylie Driskell returning, but they also lose 2019 seniors Emma Hanson and the all-time digs leader MaKenna Hudson.

Hanson finished her senior season with 95 blocks, fourth in Class 3A and third in the Hawkeye 10 Conference. She was also third on the team with 136 kills. Hudson, an all-conference honorable mention, ended her year with 375 digs – on the way to gaining the new school record of 1,057 – for 18th in the state.

“They’re great players and big shoes to full, but right now, the way things are looking, we have some girls that are ready to step up and take the positions or fill those shoes for us,” Haley said. “Definitely some loss there, but (I’m) excited about the ones that are ready to come in and work hard to fill those shoes.”

Haley said after being away from some of the girls on the team, the growth spurts were a welcomed surprise as they look to replace Hudson and Hanson.

Kelsey Fields, a Northwest Missouri State basketball commit, checks in at 6-2 while girls like Morgan Driskell (5-10), Ryli Abildtrip (5-11), Brianna Fields (5-11), Kaci Abildtrup (5-11) and Sam Dunphy (6-0) give the Panthers height throughout each rotation.

“The height that they’ve got over the year, and just the growth, ... I really feel like this is going to be a good group to work with,” Haley said.

Kelsey Fields is coming off a second-team all-Hawkeye 10 selection as a middle hitter. She led the team in kills, recording 262 as a junior. Rylie Driskell also returns as the team’s leading assist leader with 578 and the team’s leader with 29 aces last season.

Having an increase in size on the floor, the group has to be aggressive, rather than the playing on the defensive compared to a year ago.

With options throughout the roster, Haley said the team can be “the attacker,” but also needs to be flexible due to potential COVID-19 issues. If a starting player is out, another has to step in and potentially fill an uncommon role.

“We just want them prepared to play all positions, and I really feel like we have players ready to come in and be those flexible players and work hard for us,” Haley said.

Schedule

Aug. 25 – at Southwest Valley, TBD (Scrimmage)

Aug. 27 – at Carlisle, 4:30 p.m. (Tournament)

Aug. 31 – at Southwest Valley, 7:15 p.m.

Sept. 1 – vs. ADM, 7 p.m.

Sept. 3 – vs. Clarinda, 7 p.m.

Sept. 15 – vs. St. Albert, 7:15 p.m.

Sept. 17 – vs. Denison-Schleswig, 7:15 p.m.

Sept. 19 – at Red Oak, 8:30 a.m. (Tournament)

Sept. 22 – at Carroll Kuemper Catholic, 7:15 p.m.

Sept. 24 – at Red Oak, 7:15 p.m.

Sept. 29 – at Atlantic, 5 p.m. (Triangular)

Oct. 6 – vs. Shenandoah, 7:15 p.m.

Oct. 8 – at Glenwood, 7:15 p.m.

Oct. 10 – at Indianola, 8:30 a.m. (Tournament)

Oct. 13 – vs. Harlan, 7:15 p.m.