Lyndsee English

Lady Cards in L&C Conf. quarterfinals

Alan Dale Randolph Times

RANDOLPH — The hope was that a team hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic could find a way to overcome the virus and make toast out of a cracker at the Lewis and Clark Conference volleyball tournament this week.

The Randolph Lady Cardinals earned a first-round tournament bye and did not have to play over the weekend.

They took on Laurel-Concord-Coleridge Monday in the tournament’s quarterfinals at Laurel.

The winner of that contest then took on the winner of the Winside and Hartington-Newcastle game in the semifinals with the title game having been scheduled for Tuesday.

Randolph, 14-10 going into Monday’s game, closed out the regular season with a 2-0 (25-18, 25-18) win over Osmond and prior to that, they beat Plainview 2-1 (19-25, 25-14, 25-23) and lost to them 2-0 (28-26, 25-19) while also dropping a match to Wynot, 2-0 (25-20, 25-17).

In the Osmond win, freshman Ella Scott led the way with six kills while in the win over Plainview, Jaiden Taylor (10 kills, four blocks), Scott (five kills, 13 digs), Abby Schmit (12 kills, 10 assists) paced the Lady Cardinals.

Keely Pinkelman had a team-high six kills against Wynot while Taylor had six to pace Randolph in the Plainview loss.

“Having five girls out due to COVID issues has been stressful and the girls are still adapting to changes to our rotations,” Randolph head coach Rob Engel said. “We have had to make some adjustments on the fly and freshman outside hitter Ella has stepped up and played well in their absence. But in the loss to Plainview, we were out of sync all game and after losing the lead late and getting beat 28-26 we weren’t able to recover. They are a much-improved team and have finally gotten over their own COVID related issues to get back to full strength.

“We hope to get everyone back just in time for sub-district play and make a push to the end of the year.”

Engel has coached a team of young warriors who have had to deal with now, two separate quarantines that has affected multiple players, some on more than one occasion.

“We are going to have to find a way to get a win in the conference tournament against good competition without some key players, but that’s the hand we’ve been dealt,” Engel said. “Other players will have to step up and have big games.”

Randolph is currently 13th in the state in power points with 12 subdistrict winners plus four wildcard teams making it to district finals, which takes eight winners to state.

Someone who knows the feeling of a good playoff run among the Randolph roster is third-year assistant coach Lyndsee English – formerly Lyndsee Loberg.

English was a four-year varsity volleyball player for Randolph during her playing days and even played a year of freshmen basketball with Engel before his days as a coach of the netters.

“I don’t even know if some of these girls were born until the year, I graduated in 2003,” English said. “I love being back. It’s definitely something I wanted to do. I have a lot of pride in coaching where I used to play.”

Randolph is a much smaller school than when English played as it once was a Class C-2 school and it currently a D-2 one.

“The number of girls is smaller, and we now play a lot of schools that are a lot bigger than us,” English said. “They seem to be a tight group of people and the team is probably a lot closer and the team bonding is a lot better.”

English’s life has changed quite a bit over the years, and so has the game of volleyball.

She lived in Lincoln for 10 years before coming back to her hometown with her husband Andrew. She worked as an X-ray technician, but since coming home she holds positions with the post office and raising her four kids, besides helping to coach the volleyball team.

“I jumped at the opportunity to volunteer coach and then I became the regular assistant last year,” English, a former Randolph middle hitter, said. “One thing that was a big change is the game itself. When I played volleyball in high school it was still rally scoring, you could not hit the net on a serve, and there was no libero amongst other things. The change happened between my senior year of high school and my freshman year of college.”

English played outside hitter for Briar Cliff for two years before moving on to X-ray school.

Engel and English have built a strong communication since her playing days and it has helped as a coach.

“I feel like we accent each other well,” English said. “He has been teaching me a lot about the coaching side of things and I, on the other hand, know all of the fundamentals and skills to teach the girls from just playing the game myself,” she said. “I’m very vocal on making sure the girls know the defense and get in the right position and trying to teach them how to read the court. I have nothing but respect for him and I have nothing but appreciation for him allowing me to coach. I have formed a close bond with some of these girls And I just love being a part of the Randolph volleyball team.”

Wynot 25 25

Randolph 20 17

KILLS

Wynot - Edyn Sudbeck, 7; Karley Heimes, 3; Autumn Lawson, 3; Kendra Pinkelman, 2; Krystal Sudbeck, 2; Amber Lawson, 2. Randolph - Keely Pinkelman, 4; Ella Scott, 4; Jaiden Taylor, 4; Emmalee Harder, 3; Abby Schmit, 1; Erin Engel, 1.

SET ASSISTS

Wynot - Chloe Heimes, 8; Edyn Sudbeck, 5; Emersyn Sudbeck, 1; Krystal Sudbeck, 1. Randolph - Ein Engel, 12; Abby Schmitt, 3.

BLOCKS

Wynot - Amber Lawson, 3; Karley Heimes, 2; Krystal Sudbeck, 2; Edyn Sudbeck, 1; Kendra Pinkelman, 1.

ACE SERVES

Wynot - Karli Heimes, 3; Autumn Lawson, 1.

DIGS

Wynot - Emersyn Sudbeck, 11; Edyn Sudbeck, 9; Autumn Lawson, 8; Chloe Heimes, 5; Kendra Pinkelman, 3; Reanna Greninger, 3; Amber Lawson, 3; Karli Heimes, 2; Krystal Sudbeck, 2. Randolph - Ella Scott, 7; Keely Pinkelman, 6; Jaiden Taylor, 6; Erin Engel, 5; Abby Schmit, 1.

Randolph 25 25

Osmond 18 18

KILLS

Randolph - Ella Scott, 6; Keely Pinkelman, 4; Jaiden Taylor, 3; Abby Schmit, 2; Emmalee Harder, 2.

ACE SERVES

Randolph - Gracie Eledge, 1; Ella Scott, 1; Abbie Schmit, 1; Jaiden Taylor, 1.

SET ASSISTS

Randolph - Erin Engel, 10; Abby Schmit, 6.

BLOCKS Randolph - Jaiden Taylor, 1.

Randolph - Jaiden Taylor, 1.

DIGS

Randolph Jaiden Taylor, 8; Ella Scott, 5; Keely Pinkelman, 4; Gracie Eledge, 4; Erin Engle, 4; Abby Schmit, 3.