By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph Christian volleyball has had a nice run of success lately with four straight winning seasons - all under the direction of coach Erin Patrick, who’s assisted in coaching by his wife, Sheryl.
Last year was one of the best volleyball seasons in school history for the Lions. The team went 25-2 and won a district title for the first time since 2005 before falling to Santa Fe in five sets during sectionals.
St. Joe Christian loses their top three hitters from that team, including all-state performer and now Nebraska track and field athlete Brooklyn Miller, who led the team with 303 kills and 93 blocks. She was second on the team with 232 digs.
The Lions also lose starters Tori Hudgens (291 kills, 268 digs), Emma Forrett (175 kills, 111 digs) and El Meadows (19 kills, 33 digs).
Coach Patrick has a pretty young team with only one senior, Diana Ye, who just transferred in. However, Patrick has four players returning with starting experience, and he looks forward to having most of this current roster for two full seasons.
"We do return four girls (from last year) who were under classmen," Patrick said. "They'll be a big part of our team. They all four started. But, without having many seniors, essentially we have this team for two years. So, having coached 22 years, I've never done that before - had the same team for two years. So, there's some excitement there."
Junior middle Ella Bowman, who logged 65 kills and 51 blocks in 2020, is the top returning hitter this season and was a letter winner last year. She says last year’s seniors taught her a lot about leadership, and she hopes to apply what she has learned to this season.
"Their leadership was really important to me personally," Bowman said. "And how they conducted themselves on and off the court. Just their friendship to all of us is kind of a big thing to me."
Patrick expressed confidence in Bowman's ability to become a leader. Juniors Laurel DuBois, Charlee Stanley, Haidyn Gardner and Jenna Burton could also grow into that role, according to Patrick.
"We do need somebody to step up and Ella has done a good job of doing that," he said. "We have four other juniors who haven't played varsity, but they've done a good job of leading. So, you tell them the expectations, you build it in your program and you teach them how to lead and give them that opportunity to do it."
The Lions also return their starting setter in sophomore Danika Wattenbarger. She says those who are back this fall can help lay the foundation for another run toward the state tournament.
"We have some great hitters like we did last year," she said. "And I feel like since we're all really good friends, we can communicate like we did last year and bond with each other and all of that."
Indeed, it is that bond and comradery that has been the glue for Erin and Sheryl Patrick's teams these last four years. Faith, friendship and volleyball is what binds this group together.
"(Erin) just wants us to glorify God through everything we do," sophomore hitter Chloe Burnham said. "He's just really good at what he does and he really helps us spiritually and through volleyball."
Patrick says his main role entering his fifth season is to simply maintain those values and that culture, and challenge his team to be better than they were the day before.
"Those are things that other girls have helped me with," Patrick said. "And it's just my job to make sure we keep on track doing that and keep trying to reach higher."
St. Joe Christian has a home jamboree this Saturday against West Platte and East Buchanan that starts at 10 a.m. The first regular season action will be August 28 in the East Atchison Tournament at the Tarkio Rec Center. The start time for that has yet to be determined.
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.