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Kearney athletes make their mark
By Chris Geinosky
Three athletes represented the past, present and future of the Kearney High volleyball program during this year’s USA Volleyball Junior Olympic National Championships.
Recent KHS graduate Hannah Smart, junior Stephanie Hattey and seventh-grader Megan Paul all made the trip to Dallas for the national event earlier this month at the Dallas Convention Center. Kearney has been represented at club nationals every year for nearly the last decade.
“A good percentage of the girls in our program are playing club now,” Kearney High head volleyball coach Peter Smart said. “It really picked up the last few years, and now it’s been holding steady. I’m happy with the numbers, but I hope more of our players catch on with the more competitive teams in the region and have the chance to qualify for nationals.”
Hannah Smart, who will play collegiately at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, this fall, went to nationals for a sixth consecutive summer with the KC Power.
“Nationals was definitely a little different this year,” she said. “It hasn’t hit me yet that I’m not going ever again. Honestly, I think I took it for granted a lot, because I expected to qualify for nationals every year. Now that it’s all over, I realize how big of a deal it was.”
Loaded with talent — including Kathleen Ludwig of Bishop Miege, the 2007 Evelyn Gates Award winner as the top volleyball player in the Kansas City Metropolitan area as voted on by the metro coaches, and Alley Huffman of Lee’s Summit West, a finalist for the award — the KC Power was expected to make a deep run at nationals. Bishop Miege’s Gwenn Pike, the winningest high school coach in Kansas history and member of the National High School Coaches Hall of Fame, coached the team.
The KC Power was seeded sixth in the 18 National division. However, three starters missed the event, and the team didn’t have enough firepower to meet the lofty expectations, finishing 30th out of 48 teams.
“It was disappointing, but our team wasn’t even close to being the same,” Hannah Smart said. “The girls told us from the beginning that they were not going to be able to make nationals, so we knew we wouldn’t be as good, even though we wanted to be.”
Hattey’s team, the Titan Juniors, experienced the other side of the coin at nationals. Seeded 38th, the Juniors played above their heads and finished 22nd out of 48 in the 16 National division, and could have placed even higher had it not been for a slow start.
The team was comprised mostly of players from larger high school programs from around the Kansas City area. This was Hattey’s third trip to nationals in the last five years.
“Being from Kearney, I’m the underdog on my team with most of the other girls from bigger schools,” Hattey said. “I’m proud of the fact I can prove I can play at that level.”
Paul’s Highlands team placed 35th in the 12 National division.
“It’s a great accomplishment anytime you get to make it to nationals,” Peter Smart said. “It’s such a great experience to play against some of the top competition in the country.”
Sports writer Chris Geinosky can be reached at 389-6654 or cgeinosky@npgco.com.
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Recent KHS graduate Hannah Smart, junior Stephanie Hattey and seventh-grader Megan Paul all made the trip to Dallas for the national event earlier this month at the Dallas Convention Center. Kearney has been represented at club nationals every year for nearly the last decade.
“A good percentage of the girls in our program are playing club now,” Kearney High head volleyball coach Peter Smart said. “It really picked up the last few years, and now it’s been holding steady. I’m happy with the numbers, but I hope more of our players catch on with the more competitive teams in the region and have the chance to qualify for nationals.”
Hannah Smart, who will play collegiately at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa, this fall, went to nationals for a sixth consecutive summer with the KC Power.
“Nationals was definitely a little different this year,” she said. “It hasn’t hit me yet that I’m not going ever again. Honestly, I think I took it for granted a lot, because I expected to qualify for nationals every year. Now that it’s all over, I realize how big of a deal it was.”
Loaded with talent — including Kathleen Ludwig of Bishop Miege, the 2007 Evelyn Gates Award winner as the top volleyball player in the Kansas City Metropolitan area as voted on by the metro coaches, and Alley Huffman of Lee’s Summit West, a finalist for the award — the KC Power was expected to make a deep run at nationals. Bishop Miege’s Gwenn Pike, the winningest high school coach in Kansas history and member of the National High School Coaches Hall of Fame, coached the team.
The KC Power was seeded sixth in the 18 National division. However, three starters missed the event, and the team didn’t have enough firepower to meet the lofty expectations, finishing 30th out of 48 teams.
“It was disappointing, but our team wasn’t even close to being the same,” Hannah Smart said. “The girls told us from the beginning that they were not going to be able to make nationals, so we knew we wouldn’t be as good, even though we wanted to be.”
Hattey’s team, the Titan Juniors, experienced the other side of the coin at nationals. Seeded 38th, the Juniors played above their heads and finished 22nd out of 48 in the 16 National division, and could have placed even higher had it not been for a slow start.
The team was comprised mostly of players from larger high school programs from around the Kansas City area. This was Hattey’s third trip to nationals in the last five years.
“Being from Kearney, I’m the underdog on my team with most of the other girls from bigger schools,” Hattey said. “I’m proud of the fact I can prove I can play at that level.”
Paul’s Highlands team placed 35th in the 12 National division.
“It’s a great accomplishment anytime you get to make it to nationals,” Peter Smart said. “It’s such a great experience to play against some of the top competition in the country.”
Sports writer Chris Geinosky can be reached at 389-6654 or cgeinosky@npgco.com.