Randolph girls earn All Conference honors

RANDOLPH — Randolph High School juniors Bailey Beal and Erin Engel earned Lewis and Clark First Team All Conference honors for their play at middle and setter as the two, three-year starters promise bigger things for the future.

Beal, who made First Team for a second straight season, felt the team improved a lot from last year and the overall betterment bled over to her performance.

“Being definitely better with communication, I am way closer with my teammates and what we need to improve on,” Beal said. “We had really good attitudes and are much closer. After points we come back to the middle, pick each other up, say good things about each other and go back and play. That boosts everyone’s confidence on the court.

“If anyone gets a good point or play, you would think your teammates would also be very proud of you. If you have a good play and a teammates comes up to you and gives you a compliment personally, that boosts everything. I feel I can just keep going and keep doing it again.”

Randolph head coach Rob Engel said Beal’s great length and explosiveness has helped her evolve into being a regular weapon.

“She’s really developed as a hitter this year as far as hitting different shots and placing tips which allowed her to end up with 244 kills,” Rob Engel said. “She has really improved her defense as well, she had 85 solo blocks this season and her serve became a real weapon for us.”

Erin Engel was an honorable mention pick in 2020 and she said that she was proud to have the accolades after putting in the work.

“I am really happy to finally see it pay off,” Erin Engel said. “I couldn’t have any assists without the attackers putting them away and getting a kill. Bailey and I have played together since sixth grade, and we are seeing it peaking here this year.

“This is just our junior year, and we have a whole other year, so I hope we continue to go up and next year is the last year we leave it all on the floor.”

Erin Engel quarterbacked the 5-1 offense for the Lady Cardinals. “She really improved her ability to attack out of the front row, as well as set up her hitters,” Rob Engel said. “Her court awareness and volleyball IQ are really her strong suits. She also served the ball with more velocity and movement that helped her rack up a lot of aces on the season while still serving at percent.

“She’s right at 900 career assists, so she will hopefully get well over 1,000 as a senior. Both are going to be good leaders heading into next year.”