Lady Beavers Volleyball Concludes Their Season

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Clarence Bolton

KHS Girls Volleyball completed their season in October.

Holly Van Dyke and Benjamin Van Dyke

After over 4 months, the Karns Volleyball team is finishing out their season. They have faced many challenges with the pandemic and injuries, but overall they have won 6 games out of 18. In district play, they’ve won 3 games, placing them at 7th in the district. Although they didn’t have the season they had hoped for, they are looking forward to making improvements next year.

 

The season didn’t start off well in the first game against the Clinton Dragons. The lady beavers lost two players right off the bat: senior, Carly Johnson, and sophomore, Jessie Barton. Johnson spent three weeks recovering from her sprained ankle, missing five games. Unfortunately, Barton was not able to return to the court after breaking her pelvis. Sophomore, Sarah Bogoski, also dislocated her elbows while playing JV that night. The team had to face many other injuries over the season, including junior outside hitter Lyndsey Dodge getting a concussion at West High School. Junior Valencia Ward spent time in a cast for a hairline fracture in her wrist, freshman Jada Burgins sprained her elbow, and senior Katie Jenkins has had recurring issues with her ankle. 

 

Coach Kim Stair stated that if she could change one thing about the season, she would have “healthy players.” On top of the long list of injuries, the team had to play without several players after they tested positive for Covid-19. Stair added, “I always like to win, but with all of the obstacles we’ve had to face, I think we’ve had a good season despite our injuries.”

 

The team has had many positive aspects this season, a highlight being senior night. Both JV and Varsity beat the Powell High Panthers and celebrated their win with the student section afterwards. All three seniors, Katie Jenkins, Carly Johnson, and Holly Van Dyke, have excelled on the court as well as in school, with weighted GPAs all over a 4.0. Overall, Coach Stair expressed that she was proud of “the attitudes of the players,” and “them not quitting when the odds were stacked against them.” Assistant Coach Paula Kenny added “above everything [the girls] always stay a family.”

 

Jenkins says that overall “this season could have been better, but I’m happy with our progress.” She continued, “I definitely think we could have moved faster for balls and also kept up our energy and good attitudes.” Coach Stair explained that there wasn’t just one thing that needed to be improved upon, but that she wants the team “to get better every day…1% every day.”

 

The season officially ended for JV on Sept. 30, the day of the JV district tournament at Central High School. They left after their first game with a tough loss against the Clinton High Dragons. Sophomore Kenlee Hayden won the district honors award for JV all district team. Varsity competed in their tournament on Oct. 6 at West High School, and they lost their first game to the West High School Rebels. The team will have a banquet on Nov. 2 to formally end the season.