After ending their season in the first round of the state tournament last season, Yutan volleyball was hungry for more this year, and with a 28-2 record, conference runner-up and second straight state qualification, they achieved it.

“I think we’ve worked hard, really, really hard throughout the whole season. We had that on our mind, and we wanted to get back to Lincoln,” junior Mylee Tichota said. “We showed up every day. None of us gave up ever, and I think it showed in the end of the season.”

In addition to their strong work ethic, another reason for the team’s success was their chemistry. 

“Something that truly makes me smile about this season is how close the girls were,” head coach Jodi Bierman said. “This might be the tightest-knit team I’ve ever coached.”

These strong relationships, which started last season, developed even more this year. 

“I think how close we were this entire season…even from last year to this year, we’re all still such good friends, and we still talk outside of the sport,” junior Mackenzie Govier said. “I think we were able to accomplish that because of our bond. We just can trust each other so much, especially on and off the court.”

The team’s closeness helped them stay undefeated through most of the season, though it was put to the test when senior Mckenna Jones, the starting setter, experienced a major ankle sprain that left her out for a few games mid-season.

“One of the biggest challenges for our team was Mckenna getting injured. Having your starting setter, like a first-team all-conference setter, get injured is awful,” senior Millie Dieckman said. “Having to adjust to a new setter halfway through the season was just really difficult.”

Despite this difficulty, the team’s talent and drive helped them stay focused on their goals, and thankfully, Jones was able to recover and return for the end of the season. 

“We had a lot of ups and downs with Mckenna getting hurt and trying to fill her spot, but I think our team is so well-rounded, and we just really adapted to that situation,” Govier said. “I think that just pushed us more to want to win and make it through a district final and make it to state.”

Other situations that displayed the team’s mental toughness were coming back from being behind in several games.

“If we were losing…even though we were down, we still fought, and we knew that there was a way to come back, and just getting back up and tying it or going on a big run, that was a moment of change for the game,” sophomore Emmy Tederman said.

Even after their first and only regular-season loss to Raymond Central late in the season, their mental toughness helped them defeat Aquinas Catholic and Freeman in sub-districts, Freeman being a top-10 ranked team.

“I felt really confident about how the girls played subdistricts. Three of our last four matches in that stretch were against 20-plus-win teams, and we were taking care of things,” Bierman said. “Of course I was so happy for the girls, for the seniors, and even for the underclassmen to get to experience that. I was happy for the community and all the little girls in the stands who got to cheer the girls on.”

Their dominant performance in sub-districts gave the team confidence to play their best game when it came to the district final, winning 3-1 against Elgin Public/Pope John. 

“After winning the district final game, we were super hype,” Jones said. “It was super exciting because that was one of our big goals the whole season, and one of our big goals this season was to make it to state, so winning that game really set the tone.”

Because they had qualified for state last year, the team felt more prepared coming into the tournament this year.

“[I] definitely felt very confident, maybe a little bit nervous, but it was good nervous energy. I mean, we’d been there before, so it was kind of like we knew we were doing,” Tichota said. “It was definitely more comforting already being there before because it’s definitely overwhelming, just kind of how big the facility is and the lights and having two games going at once. It’s definitely good to get back there just to build off of what we did last year.”

Going into the first set of the state game against Norfolk Catholic, the girls lost 25-19 but were able to come back in the second set, winning 25-22. 

“After the first set heading into the second set, it felt like we had kind of got our footing,” senior Gabi Tederman said. “We were very confident and composed even though we lost the first set, and you could definitely see that in the second set.”

The third set was close, but Norfolk Catholic was able to edge out Yutan and won 25-22. Yutan had a strong start in the fourth set, with their highest lead being seven points, but narrowly won 25-22. 

“I think we kept our cool and didn’t let them catching back up bother us,” Jones said. “We were still able to clinch that fourth set.”

Unfortunately, in the fifth set Norfolk Catholic got a lead and despite their best efforts, Yutan wasn’t able to come back, losing 15-9 and ending their season. 

“It was definitely a heartbreaking moment because we were so close to winning the fifth set,” Tichota said. “Even though we lost, I was really proud of how we didn’t give up throughout the game.”

Although the game didn’t end as they’d hoped, Yutan was still able to stretch the game out to five sets, an improvement from last year’s four-set state loss to Elmwood Murdock. 

“I am so flipping proud of the way they battled. It’s easy to keep energy and fight when things are going your way,” Bierman said. “Things weren’t really going our way, and these girls still battled. They showed so much grit and maturity. It wasn’t our best game, but the girls didn’t give up.”

The team was still sad that their state journey was cut short, and for senior Dieckman, this also meant that her volleyball journey was over.

“Once it set in that we did lose, and it was my last game and the seniors’ last game, it was really sad, like everyone was crying and hugging,” Dieckman said. “It’s kind of just sad in that I was not gonna play volleyball at a competitive level like ever again, which is just really sad and hard to come to terms with I guess.”

Even Jones and Tederman, who are hoping to continue playing at the next level, felt sadness at the journey being over. 

“I think the thing I’m going to miss the most is the team culture because we were so close, and some of those girls I’ve been playing with since junior high or elementary, so it’s going to be hard to come back from that,” Jones said.

While the remaining players will also miss their bond with this year’s seniors, they are already thinking about what next year will bring. 

“Looking back on it, I love our seniors. Our seniors really just made this season what it was,” Govier said. “I’ll definitely miss them next year, and having to fill some of those roles since they all started on the team is going to be very hard, but I think that we have so many good, new people coming that I definitely want to see us in another state game.”