G-R volleyball strives for more in state run

REINBECK – Two years ago, the Gladbrook-Reinbeck community was delighted to see the Rebel volleyball team finally break through to the state tournament for the first time in 30 years.

After booking a return trip to the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids with last Wednesday's regional final win against Stanton, the Rebels now want to extend their stay in Linn County.

Fourth-seeded G-R (32-2) started their second state run in the last three seasons against fifth-seed Springville (27-4) on Tuesday.

There's always a lot of outside noise this time of year, and in a year like 2020 that hasn't changed: With only two losses this season, G-R is in as good of a position as any team in the 1A field for a deep run. There's also the potential semifinal matchup against a well-known adversary in Janesville, and a bigger picture that hangs over this week's proceedings: one of the other 1A teams, Wapsie Valley, was eliminated before they even took the court in Cedar Rapids, dropping out due to a positive COVID-19 test.

As challenging as it may be, G-R head coach Paula Kelley knows the Rebels play their best when they focus on themselves.

"We have to focus on what we can do, not what we can't do, not everything around us," Kelley said. "We have to focus on what we do on that court, and once we do that, I think we'll be where we need to be."

The co-NICL West champion Rebels are led by the West's Outstanding Player, Saari Kuehl, a two-time all-state attacker rounding into form in her senior season. Kuehl leads players on 1A qualifying teams with 4.4 kills per set and adds 4.1 digs per set, leading the team in both categories. Kuehl is also one of the top servers on the remaining teams in 1A with 44 aces on 90.9 percent serving.

"She really gained a lot of strength in her offseason play, which she brought to this season," Kelley said. "When she's bringing that to practice every day, that elevates everybody else's attention and swings at practice as well."

The Rebels are a bit more offensively well-rounded than 2018's state-qualifying team – five different hitters average at least a kill or more per set, with sophomore Megan Cooley (2.0 kills per set) and junior Katie Clark (1.5 kills per set) hitting well from the middle and right-side sophomore Ava Wyatt (1.4 kills per set) making good connections after being moved from the outside position near the start of the season. G-R junior Mahayla Olson averages 1.2 kills per set from the outside.

"I feel like we got the experience from last year and we just got better off that," Kuehl said. "Everyone's gotten a lot stronger and we have big arms all over the place. … Teams won't always know where it's coming from."

Back-row play has been strong, too – libero Alyssa Morgan averages 3.6 digs per set, Mahayla Olson has 2.5 digs per set. Sophomore setter Emma McClintock has distributed 783 assists to G-R attackers and has also gotten up for 26 total blocks this season.

"It flows all the way around the court," Cooley said. "We've got a back row that can get the ball to Emma who gets us the ball. … We are more annoying this year when we have five hitters that can hit all the way around the court."

Kuehl and Morgan are the two sophomores that played on the court in Cedar Rapids two years ago, when it was named the U.S. Cellular Center. Morgan has been battling an ankle injury for the last two years, stemming from the initial injury in the 2018 regional final. She finally chose to have surgery on the ankle last winter and has been working to get back to 100 percent.

"She's had to put in a lot of work throughout this season to try and get back that strength and gain that confidence to play on the ankle," Kelley said. "She battles, she digs in. She wants it that bad."

Morgan says the mental game is the most important for her and the other Rebels on the floor.

"We knew we can do really good when we all click, but our mental state of mind has to be together," Morgan said. "We have to do our own thing and see what we can do to the other team.

The two seniors hope to impart as much wisdom as possible to the state newbies ahead of Tuesday's opener with the Orioles.

"It can be a lot to take in at once," Morgan said. "But I'm trying to tell my other teammates that you don't see any of it once you're out there, all you see is the other school's student section.

"I think we're gonna do good. We're here to win, we're not just going up there to slack. … All of us want to go as far as we can."