She may stand only 5-feet-2-inches tall, but Great Bend volleyball player Sydney Unruh plays a mighty big role for her Lady Panther team.
The senior and three-year starter and fourth-year varsity player helped propel the Lady Panthers to a 20-11 season, qualified for the Class 5A quarterfinal round of the state tournament, and took second in the Western Athletic Conference championship round-robin.
For her outstanding performance, Unruh was voted by the WAC coaches as the 2020 Player of the Year.
“It’s a real honor and honestly I never expected to get it,” Unruh said upon receiving notification of the honor. “A lot of hard work has paid off and this makes me very happy. I have great teammates who are always positive and we have a great coaching staff to help us get better.”
The fact that Unruh and her team could actually piece together a nearly complete season with 31 matches was nothing short of a miracle. Due to the COVID outbreak, the team had to quarantine for 14 days prior to the start of the regular season back in early September.
“It was really tough being all locked up for a couple of weeks,” Unruh said of the uncertain start to the season. “We’d all do some workouts at home, and then when we got back in the gym we just started where we left off.”
That was the only time the Lady Panthers had to deal with the virus outbreak. Midway through the season, they had to quarantine again for two weeks, interrupting their season for the second time.
“After our second quarantine, it was definitely a struggle,” Unruh said. “I think when we got back in the gym that time, we started to do more drills rather than focusing on scrimmaging. We focused on techniques.”
Unruh said that the Libero position requires certain physical and vocal skills.
“Being loud and active and encouraging to your teammates is really important,” she said. “You’ve got to be straight with your teammates and you have to have their trust.”
Physically, Unruh said the position, which does allow the player to serve in certain parts of the lineup rotation, requires multiple skills.
“You’ve got to be quick on your feet and you’ve got to be quick-minded,” she said. “I feel like I’m good at reading the ball which isn’t always easy to do. You’ve got to try and find the ball coming over the net and see where the ball is coming off the block, or if it will go in a different direction. You’ve just gotta watch the ball.”
Being a senior was also a change for Unruh, who took on additional leadership roles on and off the court.
“Last year, we had a lot of seniors so I didn’t feel like I could be as vocal,” Unruh said. “But this year, I knew I had to be more of a leader. I didn’t have that opportunity last year. It was time to step up.”
A repeat all-WAC first-team selection, Unruh had a 2.78 percent serve receives passing efficiency while compiling 514 digs and 62 assists. She had 17 aces out of her 217 serves. In her three-year starting career, she had 1600 digs, an average of 5.3 per set. She recorded 1,701 serve receives passing and had 546 serves with 51 aces, a .906 percentage in her four-year career.
“We did a lot of team bonding this year and we became really close,” Unruh said of the team’s success. “It just was a lot of fun and I’m so happy we could finish the season.”
Unruh, who also plays basketball and softball at GBHS, said she has received a couple of college offers already but is undecided on where she plans to continue her education and her volleyball career.
Coach of the Year
While her team didn’t fulfill one prominent goal – winning the Western Athletic Conference – Shelly Duvall saw her Great Bend Lady Panther volleyball team accomplish so much against all odds during the 2020 fall season.
With not just one, but two separate two-week quarantines that prevented an early preseason practice and then interrupted the middle of the season,Duvall saw her team flourish with a 20-11 won-loss record, place second in the WAC championship to Garden City and then reached the quarterfinals of the Class 5A state tournament before being eliminated by Maize South in three sets.
“Considering we didn’t practice or play for four weeks out of the season, I thought the girls really committed themselves when we were playing,” Duvall said. “We struggled early and then when we came back the second time, we changed our rotation and our set-up and we began to play well.”
Duvall said she felt with four returning starters – all seniors – that the team would have a chance to have a good season.
“When we made those changes, our girls just really worked hard and we were a whole different team,” Duvall said. “We got more height at the net, we were stronger in the back row and to be honest, we relied on Sydney a lot. Libero’s don’t get the recognition they deserve, but she was invaluable to the team.”
Duvall said she was proud of the way the girls handled the season with COVID quarantining.
“This was about as tough a season to handle as I’ve seen,” Duvall said. “I didn’t know how they’d mesh with all the interruptions. I think it made them more mentally tough because of what they had to handle.”
Duvall said she liked the resiliency and mental toughness of this team.
“This was one of the best teams mentally that I’ve had,” Duvall said. “They never gave up. They fought to the end even if they were not winning a set. We had fun all year.”
Duvall credited her assistant coaches for much of the team’s success as well.
“I’ve got a great staff who catch a lot of the little things that happen, and then we can make adjustments,” Duvall said. “Often times, it is the assistants who provide that extra fire for the kids. We work hard every day.”
2020 WAC Volleyball Championship
| Team | Round Robin |
|---|---|
| Garden City | 4-0 |
| Great Bend | 3-1 |
| Dodge City | 1-3* |
| Liberal | 1-3* |
| Hays | 1-3* |
2020 All-WAC First Team
| Player | School | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney Unruh | Great Bend | SR |
| Aubrey Warden | Liberal | SR |
| Rachel Panzer | Great Bend | SR |
| Abby Ellerman | Garden City | SR |
| Julie Calzonetti | Garden City | SR |
| Logan Dodge | Liberal | SR |
Coach of the Year: Shelly Duvall, Great Bend
2020 All-WAC Second Team
| Player | School | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Brooklyn Schaffer | Hays | SR |
| Kisa Unruh | Dodge City | SR |
| Brynn Boxberger | Great Bend | SR |
| Mataya Clark | Dodge City | SR |
| Melody Flores | Garden City | SR |
| Breeanna Horyna | Liberal | SR |
