Villa Madonna Academy volleyball team competes for love of game — and with love for each other


By Marc Hardin
NKyTribune contributor

On a bittersweet spring day, Anna Wagner watched a group of her Villa Madonna Academy friends walk down the graduation aisle, all of them becoming ex-high school teammates forever. Four of them played with Wagner on the volleyball team, forming the core of coach Sandi Kitchen’s successful 2017 squad.

For Wagner, a competitive multi-sport athlete who revels in the sentimental side of team bonding, it was hard to watch them go. Wagner, one of Kitchen’s most consistent servers, was the lone junior on the team. Not only were her close friends disappearing from her school life, they were leaving huge voids on the volleyball roster. It consumed much of her thoughts the entire summer leading up to her senior year.

The Villa Madonna volleyball team’s five seniors: Olivia Martini, Kate Heyenbruch, Lexi Lund, Brooke Meier, Anna Wagner. (Photo by Tony Wagner)

“Last year, all my friends were on the team and I knew I was going to be the only senior,” Wagner said. “The team was going to be so young.”

Kitchen knew the day was coming and she planned for it by engaging the interests of Villa Madonna middle-schoolers through participation at her volleyball camps. She was happy with the attendance at her final camp but was unsure how many girls would extend their interest to the 2018 high school team.

“On top of the seniors, I lost two eighth-graders to other schools. We needed numbers,” Kitchen said. “When I scheduled the preseason meeting, I wasn’t sure how many girls were going to show up. I just knew it was going to be some younger girls, between nine and 12 kids, and I was worried we weren’t going to have enough for a JV team.”

Senior outside hitter Anna Wagner in mid-serve. (Photo by Tony Wagner)

Much to her surprise, expectations were more than doubled.

“We had the meeting and a lot of the younger girls came. Then all these bigger girls walked in,” Kitchen said. “I was like, what grade are you in. They said they were seniors.”

THE PLAN

Wagner had put together an idea and it worked. Eager to play with her younger teammates, she decided that she wanted to do it with buddies on a bigger squad. Realizing coach Kitchen had a no-cut policy, she spent the summer trying to convince several of her senior friends with even a modicum of volleyball experience to come out for the team.

Three of them — Kate Heyenbruch, Lexi Lund and Olivia Martini — took her up on it and attended the preseason meeting. None of them had played since the eighth grade. Senior Brooke Meier, a soccer player and Wagner’s battery mate on the softball team, came aboard a little later. Meier, Villa’s pitching ace, was Wagner’s only friend with high school volleyball experience.

Assured the seniors were committed, Kitchen was cautiously optimistic about the development. Wagner was elated. But this presented a dilemma for Kitchen. How was she going to mesh the raw ability of new senior members who were there for one season with the established commitment of holdovers without compromising the growth of her young players who represented the future of the program.

“I’ve got to be realistic. Because of their lack of experience, I wanted to know their reason for playing,” said Kitchen, Villa’s coach for 24 years with conference championships and coach of the year honors to her credit. “I wanted to know how serious they were because I’m a serious coach.”

THE GOALS

Kitchen solicited goals from the group and asked the girls to write them down. One by one they turned them in on various sizes of paper. The responses were so compelling that Kitchen keeps them all together at home as a reminder of what organized sports can accomplish.

Senior middle hitter Lexi Lund goes up high to make a block. (Photo by Tony Wagner)

“I could have been sick to the bone,” Kitchen said of the seniors’ stated goals. “But when I read these notes, none of them said they wanted to start. They didn’t really talk about championships and stats. All of them talked about loving volleyball, wanting to be part of a team with their friends, and making special memories together their last year in school.”

But there was more. Lund also wrote that she wanted to be a helpful senior leader and make it a good atmosphere for the younger players. Martini echoed the same sentiments in her note. And then there was Heyenbruch’s which spoke in similar terms while adding an unexpected element.

“It was a really personal note,” Kitchen said. “She talked about nerves and wanting to push herself out of her comfort zone and grow as a person and she thought she could do that with her friends on the volleyball team. All she was lacking was some confidence.”

Kitchen was determined to give it to her. She made Heyenbruch a personal project and turned her into a defensive specialist as part of a platoon. She designed a special place for Heyenbruch on the court in the back row on the left. “She doesn’t feel comfortable anywhere else,” the coach said. “We put her in competitive situations in practice and she started to improve. One day, I asked her to serve three times in practice and I could tell she didn’t want to. I just gave her the ball. So what does she do? She hits three perfect serves, boom, boom, boom. She’s been a different player since then.”

Having overcome some of her anxieties in the safe company of friends and put her fears aside, Heyenbruch feels like a different person. “It’s easy to fall into the same things that are comfortable,” she said. “I really love playing volleyball but I was too nervous to play in middle school. My senior year, I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and grow. It’s been so much fun. I did it with my friends. But I get emotional that we’re playing together for the last time.”

Senior hitter Brooke Meier gets ready to make a kill in front of her sister Camdyn (right) and her coaches (lower left). Photo by Tony Wagner)

THE IMPACT

Lund, who got Kitchen’s attention with her size and vertical leap, was made a middle hitter. After weeks of training, she learned how to meet the ball with her hand at the peak of her jump. “Her step was too big when she made her jump,” Kitchen said. “When she finally got her timing down in a match, you should have seen the look on her face. Now, she’s actually making an impact.”

Martini played for Kitchen as an eighth-grader. She wound up being a replacement for Wagner, who sprained her ankle and missed three weeks. Sophomore Lizzie Thomas was out two weeks with an ankle injury. Heyenbruch suffered a foot injury. “Not only were we trying to teach them the game, but I had three girls in a boot at the same time,” Kitchen said.

They got through it together and soldiered on. The district tournament starts next week. Senior Night is Thursday against Grant County at Villa Madonna. Five Villa seniors will be honored instead of one, thanks to Wagner and her friends. Kitchen’s squad enters play with seven wins, more than expected. Following a 2-10 start, Villa won three straight matches and four of five during a 5-5 September stretch.

“We literally started from scratch this year but they all can feel good because we got better,” Kitchen said. “They wanted to have good memories and they got them, and our young players benefited. These girls did it for the love of the game and for each other. It’s a great team story. Being part of it has totally enlightened me. You just can’t build your program around winning when it’s not in the cards. You have to have something else to shoot for and sometimes that’s being proud of what you’re doing.”

Villa Madonna players celebrate after a winning point. (Photo by Tony Wagner)

4 thoughts on “Villa Madonna Academy volleyball team competes for love of game — and with love for each other

  1. A great article about the little team that could!!! All 5 Seniors on this team should be proud of what they accomplished this year. My daughter is one of two Freshman on the Varsity team and these Seniors have taken her under their wings and guided her throughout the season. They have met and exceeded their goals of being leaders on a team and setting a beautiful example of what it means to be a team! Thank you to all five Seniors for making this team a family!!!

  2. Marc – Great article!!! Thanks to you, Terry and the rest of the NKY Tribune staff for continuing to provide excellent high school sports coverage in NKY in what has become such a void. These girls and athletes deserve it and greatly appreciate your time and efforts. Keep up the good work. Thanks.

  3. Thank you for writing a great article about our volleyball team. It has been such a pleasure to watch these girls come together as a team this year. The seniors have been a good role model for my daughter, Natalie, only an 8th grader playing as their libero. She has learned so much this season getting the opportunity to work hard and play alongside her senior counterparts. I can only imagine how intimidating it must be to be the youngest and smallest player out on the court, especially when some of the girls tower over her by more than a foot. As a tribute to the seniors, I just want to say how they have helped Natalie to become a better volleyball player, but more importantly, a better person overall. This year has not been about the wins and impressive stats that so many people choose to focus their attention on. It has been about learning to work together as a team, discipline, building confidence, and pushing oneself and each other to reach the goals that have been set forth. As a parent who used to play several sports competitively all throughout elementary and all the way through high school back in the day when it wasn’t about “everyone gets a trophy” mentality and you had to earn your spot and playing time from the hard work and time put in the gym or on the field, it makes me feel good to see the positives coming out about being a part of a team that focuses on the important things that come from playing sports. This season can really be described as a building year, and I am most thankful that what is being learned are the important things that matter in life, not just a game of volleyball.

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