By Michael Cignoli (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
When Shawna Bybee was named head coach of the Skyline volleyball program prior to the 2017 season, it had been six years since the team won more games than it lost.
When it came time to select a starting lineup for her inaugural campaign, there was no preference given to seniority. If you were one of the best players, you were on the court.
And so a group of talented freshmen worked their way into the lineup and remained there until it was time to graduate, improving each year and elevating the program with them.
The class of 2021 experienced four winning seasons, their high school careers culminating with a 27-3 campaign in which they lost just 11 total sets en route to the state quarterfinals.
‘It took them a little bit to get going, obviously, but they were very, very disciplined and respected the game,” Bybee said of the recent graduates. “I think that definitely changed our program for the better. They ingrained that in the classes underneath them.”
Now it’s up to those classes to carry the torch, as all-state honorees and four-year starters Angelina Curtis and Ella Dougherty — plus all-district setter Leah King — have graduated. And fellow all-state selection Alyee Gunter tore her ACL during the basketball season, putting her status in doubt for her senior year. If she can play, Bybee said, it wouldn’t be until October.
Add it all up and the Tigers are a team who will likely have just two full-time 2020 starters in their starting lineup on opening night. One of them, senior Jadyn Foster, was only recently cleared to play after tearing her ACL in Skyline’s season-ending loss to Miller in the state quarterfinals.
Competition for playing time is at a level not seen since Bybee’s first year at the helm.
“Some of the girls are trying to find who’s going to lead the team,” the coach said. “The last three years, it’s always been those seniors. If you’ve had those kids lead your team for the last three years, you kind of have that dead period — which, luckily, is in the summer right now — trying to figure out who is going to lead. I just have a good group of core kids who respect me. Those 12 or 14 kids I have for me on the volleyball court will always have a great work ethic.”
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That, Bybee continued, is what the Tigers have established as their identity.
Many of the players also play on the school’s basketball team, which went to the state championship game in March, and the Bybee-coached softball team, which won it all in May. They don’t have any year-round pure volleyball players, which other schools in the region do.
“We won’t ever beat a team by volleyball skills,” Bybee said. “We won’t be the highest-jumping team. We won’t be the best-hitting team. But we will always outwork our teams that we play. I don’t care what six do that. I don’t care what grade they are. But we will always outwork the other team.”
With that approach, the Tigers opened with 14 consecutive wins and didn’t lose a single set until September 26. They surged to a long-awaited district title, netting 24 of their 27 wins via shutout.
“To be honest, it was almost unbelievable,” Bybee said. “We just kept going into practice thinking ‘One day at a time, one game at a time.’ Our biggest thing was that we got upset a year before by Ash Grove in districts. That really weighed on my girls. Like, a lot. I used that as motivation. I just kept saying ‘Girls, it doesn’t matter what our record is going into districts. It matters how you play in districts.’ I think they just wanted to focus on getting better every game for districts and so they used that each game to be motivated to win districts.”
If Gunter is able to return before the district playoffs this year, the Tigers would have their top server (404 serving points) and serve receiver (255 receptions) back in the lineup at a key time.
Until that point, they’ll lean heavily on all-district selections Foster and Grace Edge, now a junior. They are the only two players who saw any significant amount of varsity experience last season.
Foster was third on the team with 216 kills and ranked fourth with 394 digs, though Bybee said the Tigers needed to be careful getting her back up to game speed given the nature of her injury. When she does see the floor, the senior figures to be one of Skyline’s most prominent hitters.
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“She looks good, but you kind of take it one step at a time with her because she’s a softball kid and loves softball,” Bybee said. “I want to take it easy with her. I don’t want her to jump right into it.”
Edge led the team with 50 aces — double the amount of anyone else — and 37 blocks.
“She didn’t come out her freshman year, but she came out her sophomore year,” Bybee said. “We were missing the height at the net. Just the presence — not necessarily that she’s going to block it every time, but the presence of her trying to block it every time. It made a huge difference for her and for our team. We’ve gotten her a little bit more comfortable day by day swinging because she’s so strong. When she does swing it, she is going to be lethal up in the middle.”
Bybee couldn’t recall a time she made a single substitution in the regular season. It wasn’t until Dougherty broke her nose in the district tournament when the coach finally tabbed her bench. Jorden Hodges and Shayla Lynn rotated duties, then saw more time when Foster went down.
Hodges, a senior, and Lynn, a junior, will see prominent roles this season.
“I know they didn’t get into a lot of games, but they got into probably the two most important games of their volleyball career to kind of prepare them for this season,” Bybee said. “I look for both of them to become starters, work hard in the gym and learn the game quick.”
Bybee anticipates having more of a true rotation this season, as senior Ashlyn Eidson and juniors Lexie Curtis, Olivia Harrison and Kelli Eidson are among upperclassmen who are also battling for playing time. Sophomores Chayla Tuning and Shaylee Lindsey and freshmen Jorja Harrison, Autumn Baldwin, Shayln Owsley and Nevaeh Dorrell will all look to be varsity contributors as well.
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“We don’t have very many girls out this season, which is surprising,” Bybee said. “It always surprises me after you have such a good year and you don’t get that many kids interested in coming back out. I really think a lot of girls playing for me this year are going to see a lot of time.”
The Tigers will compete in the Osceola Jamboree on August 24, then open the regular season with an August 30 visit to Windsor.
The reigning Mid-Lakes Conference champions will begin their title defense on August 31 at Forsyth before finally returning to Urbana for their September 2 home opener against Lincoln.
