Time to shine has arrived for some Lady Hawks
Hiland's Nikole Keim, left, and Sara Schlabach rise to block a hit attempt from Garaway's Laiken Wallick during their contest on Tuesday, Aug. 27 at Hiland. Keim, Schlabach and several other Lady Hawks who have waited their turn to star have finally gotten their chance.
For the past several seasons, the Hiland Lady Hawks volleyball program has been on a massive high, producing winning teams with some gifted talent.
Having graduated seven seniors from last year’s group that went to regionals, many people might think the team is going to have to go into a rebuild. However, with All-Ohioan Kim Miller setting the table and standout Madison Yoder providing the great all-around play that has made her a star the past two seasons, the talent remains for Hiland.
If the early going is any indication, this team hasn’t missed a beat in gearing up for another great campaign, and much of that is because of the crew that has patiently waited behind last season’s senior group.
While senior Nikole Keim has been a member of the varsity the past two seasons, she hasn’t taken on a leading role. That changed this year, and she has thrived.
Last season 5-foot, 10-inch Sara Schlabach played junior varsity before getting the call up for tournament play. This year the junior has been mashing it at an alarming rate.
Senior outside hitter Adri Miller was an afterthought last season, but she continued to work hard, and this year she has blossomed.
Then there is junior fireplug libero Amanda Troyer, who is a key cog in the Lady Hawks’ defense. She played a role last season but this year will be her time to step up into a major role.
Just how good this team can be was evident in their effort in game three versus Garaway on Tuesday, Aug. 27 at Hiland High School. After Hiland took care of Garaway 25-11 and 25-16 in the first two games, they were looking to put their rival away.
In a sensational start to game three, Keim and Yoder were everywhere on the floor, recording kills and making plays. Sophomore Annika Schneider delivered a punishing kill, Keim recorded a score off a block and Yoder served up an ace. Adri Miller and Schlabach then took turns wailing away, and the score continued to grow for Hiland. Keim served up a pair of aces, and Adri Miller delivered a couple of kills, all set up by All-Ohioan setter Kim Miller.
Within a matter of minutes, Hiland held a commanding 22-4 lead and eventually won 25-10.
First-year head coach Andrea Miller said this group is more than ready to take the reins and pick up where last year’s crew left off.
“We have so much potential, and I hope we continue to see this kind of play throughout the season,” coach Miller said. “We lost a lot of great players from last year’s team, but in the same sense, we were able to move some girls in that have been waiting for their turn, girls who are talented in their own right. It’s been fun getting to see them get their chance.”
Coach Miller said Keim has been something special, having moved from playing a front-row role last season to playing all over the floor this year. She said Adri Miller was one who fell victim to the numbers game, but she said she has improved in a major way.
With the experience of Kim Miller and Yoder, the younger players have two great talents and leaders to look to for leadership.
Keim said the ingredients are there for a really fun season.
“This team is so close-knit this season, and we are having a blast,” Keim said. “We knew we had some big shoes to fill, but we have all come together and developed quickly. I really think that this group has worked hard to prove it belongs.”
As for biding their time until they got their chance to shine, Keim said nobody ever hung their heads or got down. They simply kept working toward the day they knew would arrive.
“We were all working and anticipating this time because we all knew it was coming,” Keim said. “We all knew we could do it, and now is our chance. But most importantly we all have a team mind-set, and we all want to do whatever we can to make us better as a whole.”