H&H Bearcat Team Picture: Front Row L to R SENIORS: Laura Splinter, Riley Quiring, Ava Hurt, Sophia Schulze, Jaylah Gross, Grace Splinter, Emma Dardenne, Mary Dente
Middle Row – Jillian Farris (11), Kynleigh Joseph (11), Khloe Luebbe (11), Cadence Swim (10), Andilyn Stebbing (11), Madalyn Janzen (11), Willabelle Panko (9), Ashlyn Rotter (10), Katy Farrall (10), Amanda Goertzen (11), Kate Haidle (10)
Back Row – Julia Tessman (10), Trinity Mooney (9), Kali Barta (10), Paisley Joseph (9), Sophie Minary (10), Sydney Rempel (9), Isabel Buller (9), Ashlyn Friesen (10), Kayleigh Frisbie (9) Not pictured Cora Anderson (9)- photo courtesy Aurora News-Register
There’s plenty of anticipation and excitement in the air with the new combined volleyball programs from Hampton and Heartland! There are 29 girls out for volleyball, with Coach Kayla Gaughen heading up the inaugural Bearcat volleyball season.
Coach Gaughen was the Hampton head coach for the past three seasons and comes from a strong volleyball and coaching background. She is a 2006 Hampton alum and played collegiate volleyball at Bellevue University.
When she decided to move back to Hampton several years ago, she quickly became involved in coaching at Hampton and worked her way up from assisting with club, junior high, and then high school. She works for a law firm in York and has two children, Ryder, who is in 6th grade, and Jaxx, who just started kindergarten in Hampton. Coaching and volleyball are in her DNA since her grandfather, Ray Parsley, was a longtime volleyball coach in Hampton in the 70s, where he led the team to win the state championship in 1979.
“The number of girls out has been great, making for very competitive and elevated scrimmages. The past couple of years in Hampton, we were unable to scrimmage competitively because we didn’t have enough girls,” said Coach Gaugen.
She’s also impressed with the girls’ willingness to work hard and their good attitudes about the transition that started earlier in the summer. As soon as Gaughen was named head coach last spring, she began planning the camps and leagues for the new Bearcat program.
“We introduced summer league at Centennial for three teams on Monday night, and it was a good way just to let the girls have some fun. We also saw a higher number of girls participating in weightlifting this summer,” said Coach Gaughen.
Due to the high number of girls in both the junior high and high school programs, the administrations decided that both teams would alternate practice weeks between Hampton and Heartland. Since the Heartland gym was under construction this summer, the team has only practiced at Hampton until this past week. “They have acclimated to the change of going back and forth, and it hasn’t been an issue,” said Coach Gaughen.
After a week of conditioning, the team is now focusing on positions and the importance of passing and serving. There will be a full schedule of matches for Reserves, Junior Varsity, and Varsity. Assisting Gaughen are Ashton Brown (former Heartland head coach), Tahya Helzer (former Hampton assistant coach), and Lexie Wolinski (first-time coaching).
“I am fortunate to have three very independent and like-minded assistant coaches on staff, which has helped with the transition. We are all very open and willing to give feedback to each other,” said Coach Gaughen.
Coach Gaughen is working on the final positions before their first triangular in Hampton on Thursday, August 28th. “We have plenty of outside hitters and a few middles. Our two setters are Ava Hurt and Julia Tessman, and Jaylah Gross, who is the libero.
One of Coach Gaughen’s goals for the team is to see them build confidence in themselves. She wants them to see how they can work better together, compete at their highest level, and become better players and individuals.
“If it comes with wins, that’s awesome, but we all need to develop a better program for everyone and make sure we are having fun in the process,” said Coach Gaughen.
Their opening matches on Thursday will be against Twin River and Shelby-Rising City, which are schools from Hampton’s former Crossroads Conference. Otherwise, the rest of the schedule is mostly against teams from the Southern Nebraska Conference.
