By John Raffel
Swan Valley found out just how good a volleyball team that North Branch has.
Coach Kristin Palmer’s team won the district title and the regional semifinal but lost 3-0 in its Class B regional final to North Branch, the eventual state champion. Swan Valley’s final record was 46-9-2.
“We knew we were up against a real powerhouse,” Palmer said. “North Branch has been ranked second in the state all year. We haven’t been ranked at all. We wanted to play the best we could at that time and lay it out on the floor no matter what the outcome was.”
A year ago, Swan Valley was district and regional champion with a 40-11-7 record.
“I think definitely we were successful,” Palmer said. “We had a lot more success at tournaments this year, while last year we didn’t have as much success. We had two tournament wins, two second-place wins. Our tournament success helped out our record. And another district championship doesn’t hurt.”
This marked Palmer’s second year as coach.
“We had a lot more experience this year,” Palmer said. “We had a couple of returners that didn’t play a huge role on the team last year. But they really stepped up this year.”
Those returners included Sarah Burgess at libero, Lindsey Sammons at middle hitter, and Megan Rupprecht at outside hitter.
Lauren Huebner and Burgess earned first-team all-conference honors, while Sammons and Larissa Crook were on the second team, and Rupprecht made the honorable mention list. Huebner and Burgess were also all-region players.
Huebner, a junior, plays club volleyball and is an all-state track runner. She was the main hitter, with more than 500 kills this season. “She’s our main go-to for sure in the front row,” Palmer said. “She plays all around. She adds in the back row, too.”
Rupprecht, as an outside hitter, “was a true leader,” Palmer said. “She didn’t have the most kills on the season at all; was in the top three. But she adds a lot in the second middle position. She got those kills in key situations.”
Burgess “was consistent all the way around,” Palmer added. “She got to so many balls and saved us a lot of extra plays and helped us stay in a lot of close games with her key passes.”
Next year, Palmer expects to have a young team, especially the front row. “We still have Huebner coming back,” she said. “My setter, Larissa Crook, will also be a standout. So we come with experience, but we’ll have to fill some key spots with young girls, especially with sophomores coming up from the JVs.”