Randolph girls hope this year is to snap 37 year-old streak

RANDOLPH — It’s been far too long since the Randolph Lady Cardinals have played in a state volleyball tournament.

So, in 2020 while a raging pandemic has paralyzed the world, it would be fitting if fifth-year head coach Rob Engel’s charges decided to make history themselves.

Randolph, which has been to the subdistrict final during Engel’s time on board, hopes to take things to another level for Randolph which was last at state in 1983.

Randolph comes off a 2019 campaign where the program finished 9-21 and returns four starters after graduating OH Kayla Nordhues and DS Jordan Mavis.

“We have eight players back who started at times last season, and a lot of senior leadership,” Engel said. “We have good size and athleticism across the starting lineup.

“A weakness is learning how to win the close sets; we have to improve upon that from last season.”

Randolph’s chance to improve on that aspect of the game will ride the shoulders of seniors OH Jaiden Taylor and Abby Schmit who made first-team All-Conference a year ago and outside hitters Keely Pinkelman and Natalie Munter.

Pinkelman says that the team is relieved to be able to come back to the court this fall after being able to get to work in the summer. Now they hope that it wasn’t for naught.

“The fear is going back up as the number of cases are going back up,” Pinkelman said. “We have had a fun time during open gym, and we went to a camp in Seward which was fun and we had success there getting first in our bracket.”

The girls admit that it can be conflicting working out for something that may not even see the light of day, but that won’t deter their spirit.

“We all love volleyball so even if the season is cancelled, we are just trying to make the best of it right now,” Pinkelman said. “We are just having fun in practice and trying to keep our posi tive attitudes up.”

So far, the work has equated to a team that is on the upswing.

“During practice we are looking great,” Schmit said. “We have many players that are going for that spot that they want on varsity and we can’t wait for the season to start and that it stays going.”

Schmit noted that the summer success was built on a team dynamic of enjoying playing with each other and communication.

“Our serve-receive was on fire and whenever that happened, we got perfect sets and hits out of it,” Schmit said. “It was all very good. We went back to our fundamentals and did very well on them.”

But the Lady Cardinals still have plenty to work on. “Our biggest

“Our biggest problem has been finishing out games,” Munter said. “We are really strong the first 20 points and then the last five gets off and we aren’t able to close off. That’s our biggest weakness. It’s very mental. We get down one point and we just lose it.

“We get in our own heads. It’s the nervousness of making sure of closing out this set and actually making sure we win this game.”

Libero Gracie Eledge and MH Emmalee Harder are also back in the fold.

Engel also has some talented youth to count on as sophomores, MH Bailey Beal and S Erin Engel should help the Lady Cardinals run their 6-2 attack.

Senior Jenna Albers and junior Ariel Fye are both returning letter winners while the team will cope with the loss of junior Grace Nordhues who is out due to injury.

Engel says the Lewis and Clark Conference race will once again be a tough one but expects Wynot and Ponca to continue being at the head of the pack “due to their coaching and tradition.”

Engel is well aware of the looming threat of COVID-19, but if all goes to fruition for a full season, he also knows what his girls are capable of doing.

“Hopefully the COVID situation doesn’t impact the season of the smaller schools in Nebraska and we can have a complete season without any problems,” he said. “We are trying to prepare for business as usual.

“We would like to improve upon our record from last season, and with the tough schedule we play, we can put ourselves in position to make a run in the postseason if the girls continue to improve and work together.”

With talk of a potential lack of a state playoff because of the pandemic, the girls just want to get their games in and compete together.

“Our initial goal is to play as many games as we can and just have fun,” Munter said.

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