By Molly Hemberger
The Silver Lake Lady Mustangs played in the first and second rounds of Sub-District volleyball. The first game went very well against the Red Cloud Warriors. The girls lost the first set 21-25 but came back to win the next three 28-26, 25-21, and 25-21. Junior Katy Soucek led the team with 14 kills and sophomore MaKenna Karr and senior Sydney Bartels each added 7. There were a total of 21 assists throughout the game, with junior Emma Schmidt tallying 11 and senior Lana Swanson with 10. Helping the team with their serving were Emma Schmidt and junior Macy Parr, who had 4 and 3 aces, respectively. Sophomore Sophie Schmidt had a total of 25 digs.
Unfortunately, the Mustang’s season came to an end in the final round of sub-districts with a loss to Kenesaw. The Blue Devils beat the Mustangs with set scores of 25-16, 25-14, and 25-17. Karr led the team with 8 kills and Soucek and Parr followed closely behind with 5 and 4, respectively. Sophie Schmidt contributed a total of 14 digs.
Head coach Shelby Rupprecht explained the many ups and downs the team experienced throughout the season. She said, “Although our Kenesaw game was disappointing, I saw a lot of really good things throughout the season. I saw us start at a low level for some games and bounce back with high energy instead of folding and giving up. I think the determination and the effort to keep fighting are what I’m most proud of. We came out and lost the first set to Red Cloud in sub-districts, which can sometimes be a really big mental block since we previously lost to them in Hampton. But they did an awesome job of staying focused and finishing the game. Overall, this will probably be one of the most memorable seasons that I’ll have since it was my first back at Silver Lake. There are so many people who contributed through this transition, from previous staff and coaches that I’ve had, to current staff, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. This was the best group of girls that I could’ve asked for as a first-year head coach. Despite the outcome of our season, I wouldn’t have wanted to go through this with a different group of girls. I saw a lot of growth in all of them this year and some stepped up in big moments throughout the season, and I couldn’t be more proud of that.”