The Gehlen Catholic volleyball team ended their season in the state semifinal round with a three-set loss to Janesville on Wednesday evening.
The Jays accomplished a lot this season by getting the program back to state for the first time in five years and winning a match at state for the first time in six years. Addi Castle says this will hopefully encourage other girls to take volleyball seriously and build the program back up.
The Jays struggled against a good Janesville team with offensive success being hard to come by. Emmi Castle says it was hard to get into a rhythm throughout the night.
The Jays were faced with a front row that featured a lot of great blockers. Head coach Jessie Bohnenkamp says that seemed to give her team fits in spite of their experience with teams like this before.
Addi Castle says this will be a good learning experience to building up more offensive options going forward.
The Jays fell behind in the first two sets by large margins but showed some great fight in the third set. Coach Bohnenkamp says the girls were reminded to take things one play at a time, and they answered
Addi Castle says the ability to fight to the end was a trait this team showed all season.
Gehlen Catholic ends the season at 23-8 and will graduate three seniors off the roster in Kora Bonderson, Kenadee Sitzmann, and Halle Walgenbach. Coach Bohnenkamp says they have been with her for her whole coaching journey making them a special group.
The Jays will bring back a large portion of their roster which could make them a dangerous team again next season. Emmi Castle is one of those returners, and she says having state tournament experience to lead into next year will be beneficial.
Coach Bohnenkamp says this opportunity at the state tournament will make them hungry to do it all again next year.
Janesville advances to the state championship match to be played on Thursday at 7:00 PM against Ankeny Christian. It’s Janesville’s second-straight state title game appearance.
