The Region VI championship volleyball banner that hangs high above the Sports Arena served as a constant reminder to Jordan Rehm and Cassie Wiley where the Hutchinson Community College volleyball program was.
The program had won five regional championships in a six-year span. But as the losses continued to mount during their freshman season in 2010, that tested the mettle of Sarah Myers’ first freshman class.
Rehm and Wiley were the only freshmen to return from a 6-29 campaign of 2010. Now the Lady Dragon sophomores are starting to enjoy volleyball success.
“This is a huge honor for these two to have stuck it out,” HCC head coach Sarah Myers said. “Last year was tough on everybody. It would have been easy to walk away. They were the only two from last year’s freshmen who chose to stick it out and I am really proud of both of them. They have grown so much and it means a lot to see how far they have come.”
In many ways, Rehm and Wiley have a lot in common in terms of their careers with their head coach. Myers, then known as Sarah Smith, was part of HCC volleyball’s rebuilding process in 11 years ago. While Myers didn’t play on any of the Region VI championship teams, she was considered a major factor by many in the program to have built the foundation for those successes.
“They may leave here with not the best record in history, but their names will forever be known within this program for being two sophomores who stuck it out and helped rebuild the program to where we expect it to be.”
2011 REGION VI VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
When: Saturday-Sunday, November 5-6
At: Newman University, Wichita
Live videostream: Blue Dragon Sports Network
Saturday’s schedule
Match 1 – Noon: Hutchinson (15-21) vs. Barton (26-11)
Match 2 – 2 p.m.: Seward County (22-14) vs. Colby (28-13)
Match 3 – 4 p.m.: Loser Match 1 vs. Loser Match 2
Match 4 – 6 p.m.: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2
Sunday’s schedule
Match 5 – Noon: Loser’s bracket final
Match 6 – 2 p.m.: Championship match
Match 7 – 4 p.m.: Championship match No. 2 (if necessary)
Hutchinson returns to the Region VI volleyball Final Four on Saturday when the fourth-seeded Lady Dragons (15-21) will play top-seeded Barton (26-11) in the first semifinal at Noon at Newman University in Wichita. Colby and Seward County meet in the second semifinal of the double-elimination portion of the regional tournament. The two semifinals losers play at 4 p.m. and the winner’s bracket final is scheduled for 6 p.m.
In addition to returning to the regional Final Four, the 2011 Blue Dragons have shown a nine-victory improvement over last season. Hutch improved three wins in conference play and finished fourth in the Jayhawk West – a two-place improvement – and earned a home first-round match for the Region VI Tournament, which the Lady Dragons won in a decisive sweep over Dodge City.
As the calendar changed from September to October, the fortunes of the Lady Dragons started to change as well. HCC is 8-6 since October 1 after going 7-15 in September. Overall team statistics made a dramatic improvement over the season averages.
But what’s more for Wiley and Rehm, the success of the final month finally took the sting away from a rough and rugged freshman season at HCC.
“This has been tons of fun,” Rehm said. “It’s extremely satisfying. Last year was not what we planned. This is 1,000 times better. I am so glad I am with this group of girls.”
Rehm has a team-high 297 kills with a team-high 2.41 kills per set. She also has a team-high 3.26 digs per set. Rehm has posted 11 double-doubles this season.
Wiley has climbed to No. 5 on the career blocks chart with 247 blocks. She is averaging 1.17 blocks per set. Wiley is hitting .229 and is averaging 1.73 kills per set.
“This means a lot,” Wiley said. “It means the freshmen stepped up and me and Jordan stepped up our leadership that we needed to have to reach this goal. We set that goal after being in the hole last year.”
The Lady Dragons were swept by Barton this season, but the early October match in Great Bend sparked this team. HCC trailed 0-2, but won sets three and four and then rallied from six match points down to tie the fifth set at 14-all before falling 16-14.
HCC also went 0-2 vs. Colby and 1-1 against Seward County.
Freshman Shayne Haley is averaging 1.84 kills and is hitting .208 for the season. She is second on the team with 110 blocks and has 39 services aces. Freshmen Jade Nelson, Kayla Karmazyn and Emily Oberlin both average more than a kill per set.
Setter Hayley Young, coming off a Jayhawk West Player of the Week award, is averaging 6.65 assists per set and is hitting .173 with 1.17 kills per set. She also has a team-high 62 aces. Freshman Paige Forrester is averaging 3.16 digs and has 45 service aces.
The Region VI winner moves on to the NJCAA National Tournament Nov. 17-19 in West Plains, Mo.