It never gets old for Sharon Zavala.
The longtime Grand Island Central Catholic volleyball coach is taking another group to the state volleyball tournament.
The Class C-1, No. 1-rated Crusaders (Omaha World-Herald) will be competing in their 34th state tournament.
GICC takes on No. 7 Kearney Catholic at 3 p.m. Wednesday on the south court at Pinnacle Bank Arena.
Zavala, who is in her 48th year of coaching, said this is a group that is deserving of competing at the state tournament.
“They really are,” Zavala said. “They’ve worked hard in the offseason. They’re committed team players and have been really fun to coach this year. They have been very easy to coach.”
All season, the Crusaders have been led by seniors Lucy Ghaifan and Gracie Woods. Ghaifan leads the GICC attack with 344 kills and 49 blocks, while Woods has chipped in 286 kills and 300 digs
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“Lucy and Gracie are power players for us at the net, and they’ve shown why,” Zavala said. “Teams have had a hard time stopping them this year.”
The play of setter Carolyn Maser has been a reason why GICC is 29-2 on the season. The 6-0 junior has dished out 854 assists but also has 66 kills on the season.
“Carolyn is a tall player who has great hands and can get a good ball out to any of the players. She is also an offensive threat for us at the net,” Zavala said. “She stays after practice all the time to get better at her setting. She’s a great leader for us.”
A number of role players have been key for the Crusaders as well. Hadlee Hasselmann is third on the team in kills at 163, while Tristyn Hedman leads the defense with 468 on the season. Zavala said those players, along with seniors Avery Kelly, Hannah Gettltly, Maddie Weyers and Madison Schneider have provided some key roles for GICC as well.
“Hadlee has steadily improved a lot over the course of the season as she has been a good sideout player,” Zavala said. “I think we’re about as good defensively as we’ve been for a long time. We have come up with some big plays, and they don’t give up on the ball.
“I think we got other role players who have been playing great for us all year long.”
The Crusaders take a Kearney Catholic that they are familiar with. GICC earned a hard-fought four-set win over the Stars on Sept. 27.
Kearney Catholic has a number of players who return from last year’s state runner-up team. Londyn Carnes leads the Stars with 280 kills and 36 blocks, while Aibrey Mandernach chipped in 268 kills. Payton Dzingle and Margaret Haarberg have chipped in 194 and 184 kills, respectively. Setter Callie Squiers, daughter of Nebraska-Kearney volleyball coach Rick Squiers, has dished out 842 assists.
Zavala said she expects a tough match from the Stars.
“They gave us some problems the last time we played them,” she said. “They have a lot of ability, and they match up with us really well. They are tall with great athletes. Our serving game will have to be on.”
The road to their 11th state championship won’t be easy for the Crusaders. Zavala said she feels anyone of the eight teams can win the tournament.
“I think C-1 is probably the deepest class as far as quality teams in the state tournament,” Zavala said. “Any one of the eight teams are capable of winning it. The winner is going to have three tough matches.”