It’s no secret that St. Louis consistently nets productive seasons in volleyball. This year was no exception under new coach Jennifer Jaeck, who took over for coaching legend Gary Stanglewicz.
The Sharks won their district and continued their season to the regional semifinal, where they lost to Valley Lutheran and finished with a final record of 40-18-2.
“As a first-year coach, I think it was a successful season, taking over the program and having some varsity players that were playing in different positions,” said Jaeck, “Overall, it was a really successful year. Winning the districts was huge for the girls.”
Eliminating Ithaca in the district final was a highlight for the Sharks. “A couple of keys were the second set, we were down big and rallied back to win,” Jaeck said. “That third set, we were down 24-17. Ithaca just needed one more point to win and force the match to continue. Sam Sangster came back and served us the whole way back in that set, and we ended up winning.”
In their season-ender, the Sharks lost the first two sets to Valley Lutheran.
“The girls were starting to get down and felt like the season was coming to an end,” Jaeck said. “All of a sudden, they flipped the switch and won the third set. We were battling back and forth in the fourth set and lost 25-27. It was right on the wire to push them to a fifth set. I think if we could have finished off that fourth set, I think we could have had the match. It just didn’t go our way. I was proud of the way the girls rallied back for being down two sets.
“The district championship and regional showed how much competitive spirit they had. That’s something I’ll remember about this team. They had a lot of fight to them.”
Jaelynn Block and Riley Smith were first-team all-conference players for the Sharks. Ashtyn Maniez and Sam Sangster made the second team.
Block, Sangster, and Smith were also all-region, and Block earned honorable mention all-state honors.
Smith, Breezy Allen, and Sangster are graduating, but the other players are returning. With a sound volleyball program like St. Louis has, the off-season will be a busy one.
In the loss to Valley Lutheran, Smith had 10 kills and 15 digs, Sangster had 13 digs, Maniez had 13 kills and 19 digs, Block had eight kills and 10 digs, and Allen had six kills and six digs. In the district victory over Ithaca, Smith had 11 kills, while Madison Smith had six aces, Block had 13 assists, and Block and Maniez had 17 digs each.