Lady Cardinals will focus on fundamentals after tough losses

HOMER – The Randolph Lady Cardinals volleyball team has started the 2023 season 0-5, but not before making impressions of all kinds.

Randolph first dropped a 2-1 (25-19, 26-28, 25-17) decision to host Homer and then fell 25-9, 25-11 to defending state champion Cedar Catholic at a triangular hosted by the former.

“The girls should be proud of the way they played against Homer,” Randolph head coach Lyndsee English said. “They played together as a team and we saw so many good things. It helped to play with a lot less errors and they communicated well. Like I told the girls, we may have lost on the scoreboard, but they should be happy about the way they played and to focus on the positives from that game. They never gave up.

“It looked like we came out intimidated against HCC. All communication disappeared and we made way too many errors. In the end, we beat ourselves.”

Ella Scott had nine digs and Katarina Greiner had three kills against Cedar Catholic. Stats against Homer were not available.

Two days later at Winside, the Lady Cardinals fell in all three matches of a quad 2-0 (25-16, 25-8) to the host, 2-0 (25-20, 25-8) to Howells-Dodge and 2-0 (25-14, 25-13) to Hartington-Newcastle.

“Against Winside, we played well in the first set and then fell apart in the second set, recording many errors in the attacking and serving departments,” English said. “Serving became a big difference; we missed 10 serves and that really hurt us.”

Jacey Bartels had four kills for Randolph while Scott had seven digs.

Freshman Lilly Kuchta came off the bench to get three kills against Howells-Dodge.

“I was very proud of our couple freshmen for coming in off the bench and making an instant impact on the game,” English said. “Lilly and Sydney Robinson both got a good amount of playing time throughout the day.”

Bartels had three kills against Hartington- Newcastle while Lexi Backhaus had four assists and three digs.

“Same story in this game – we had amazing serve-receive, passing and digging, but struggled setting and hitting,” English said. “It’s going to be very hard to win games if we can’t play better at the net and eliminate errors. We can’t get a side-out just to miss the serve; that is a momentum stopper. Our back row play was wonderful all day long, but then we couldn’t run a decent offense.

“Talking with one of the other coaches Saturday, she commented on how great of a passing team we are and I couldn’t agree more. Ella had a great day defensively and in serve-receive. She helps make spectacular plays and gives a definite spark to the team. Jacey is playing as both an outside hitter and a setter. She has to do a lot for the team, and I think once she settles in and embraces her role, we will see a lot more from her in the stats columns. We will keep developing these younger girls and will hopefully have some of them settle into their positions and start playing with more confidence.”

English said that the team will move on from the first five matches and will focus on improvement a match at a time.

“They need to settle into their rotation and get comfortable with one another,” English said. “Serving, setting and hitting will be the main focus in practice this week.”

Randolph plays Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Thursday in its home opener and then hosts Ponca on Tuesday.

Scott, a senior, said the season has gotten off to a strong start especially in terms of vibe.

“We were having fun and playing good,” she said. “That's what we need to do more of. It feels like sometimes there is some tension on the court. You know, we lost a huge part of our team last year with Erin (Engel) setting the past four years for us. We miss her dearly, but we are working on having some others step up in the setter position.

“It's a key position that can make or break every game. I can adjust to my setters if they ask me to pass it somewhere else, higher, lower, etc. The thing we are missing is communication.”

Scott said the team has worked hard on communication and serving and that it can look “phenomenal” in practice.

“Then we get to a game and it's like all of that went out the window,” Scott said. “It just doesn't make sense. So that is something we highly need to work on – listening to our coaches, listening to each other, taking feedback well, showing respect for teammates and coaches and just working hard in general.

“We have a whole lot of open spots on the court currently, and we just have got to have people come into practice ready to work and prove themselves that they deserve a starting spot.

“Competitiveness seems like something people are born with, but it is also something that can be developed over time. Hard work is not something that somebody else can do for you. You have to find your passion for the sport and just keep getting after it with a good attitude every practice and every game.”

Scott said she believes in the future prospects for the Lady Cardinals.

“I want to look back on my high school career and feel proud,” Scott said. “I want to win, and we really have got to get a win under our belts to push us forward.”