By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Big records should have big celebrations. Last fall, the Great Bend High School volleyball team won 31 matches, breaking the 23-year school record for wins in a season set by Jackie Cook's team in 2001. But the record fell with little fanfare as the Lady Panthers lost their very next match the same day to end their season at 31-5. Saturday in Garden City, the Lady Panthers went 4-0 to claim their second-straight Western Athletic Conference title and move to 33-2 on the season with a weekend to play.
"To be honest, we were headed to the Garden City bench for our last match and I didn't even realize we had surpassed the record," said Lady Panther coach Shelly Duvall. "Of course it's on your radar, but once you're in the mix of everything, it's not something you really think about until one of the girls said, 'Oh my gosh, we just broke the school record again.' It was pretty exciting going into that match, being able to remember we'd already hit that milestone we'd been waiting for."
Last year's team ended a 20-year drought of going without a WAC title. The loss of six seniors from that squad made another record-run improbable this season. Kara Feist is the lone senior to play in all 77 sets this season. Senior Cassie Ellegood missed time due to injury and has played in 71 sets. The other Panthers to play in at least 70 sets this season are juniors Ava Kaiser (77) and Kimmy Hofflinger (77), sophomores Kya Behr (77) and Alex Mayers (75), and freshmen Mikala Minton (76) and Micah Ellegood (75).
"I think, at the beginning of the season, it was still very up in the air of who was going to fill what spots," Duvall said. "This group is really special. Their volleyball IQ is extremely high and they put in the work, but I think the bonds they have between each other on the court is what makes this team as special as it is."
Seniors Josephine Mazouch and Addy Irwin have played in half the sets this year. The group of four seniors will be missed next year, but Duvall is already seeing success from younger players across the board.
"I think it's so exciting for Panther volleyball," she said. "We have young kids still coming in and seeing varsity level. We have junior varsity teams and C-teams that are scoring really high and doing really well during the season. Everybody works so hard in practice and it's definitely paying off. I think Panther volleyball is going to be in good shape for the next few years."
READ MORE: Duvall part of three generations of winning at GBHS
The Great Bend squad has reached several milestones this season. Including two seasons at Ellinwood where she posted a 49-17 record, Duvall picked up her 200th career win earlier this season. With 166 wins at Great Bend, Duvall surpassed Kelsey Sciacca on the school's all-time win list (158). With a 166-72 record at Great Bend, Duvall's win percentage moves to .697, the best by any Panther coach with at least 200 matches. Mike Minton's teams from 1997-2000 went 105-33 (.761), and Deb Becker won nearly 85 percent of her matches in the 1996-97 seasons. Cook, Duvall's mother, carried a .653 win percentage over 222 matches.
Sophomore Kya Behr surpassed 1,000 career assists earlier this season. She is averaging 9.3 assists a set and needs just 29 assists to break Taryn Kirmer's (Stueder) season record of 745. Cassie Ellegood enters the postseason with 47 aced serves on the season and needs just two more to break into the school's top-10 all-time list for aces in a season.
Great Bend will host Hays, Valley Center, and Goddard in Class 5A substate action on Saturday. Times are to be determined.