Clarkton volleyball seniors reach record-breaking milestones

Amy Cowart, left, presents Brinley Cowart with posters after setting a school record in career assists and breaking the 1,000 career digs milestone.

Photo by Kaelin Triggs, Delta Dunklin Democrat

CLARKTON, Mo. - Brinley Cowart and Angel Johnson are prominent names when it comes to Clarkton Reindeer volleyball.

Now, playing together for over 10 years, the two best friends have a dominant connection on and off the court. This connection has helped the two accomplish some milestones which have never been done before in Clarkton volleyball history.

This season, at the SEMO Dig for Life tournament, Johnson achieved her 1,000 career kill. She became only the second player in Clarkton history to surpass 1,000 kills after Montana Pearson.

Pearson, who graduated in 2023, finished her career with 1,052 kills.

Johnson currently sits at 1,058 kills and counting, setting a new school record. According to Johnson, she gave herself the goal of 1,000 kills when she was only in middle school.

“Honestly, this was a big weight off my shoulders,” Johnson said. “Now I can just focus on being efficient since I don’t have anything else to worry about after pasting my long term goal.”

Helping Johnson get there was her counterpart Brinley, who broke the school assists record while achieving a milestone of over 3,000 career assists.

Angel Johnson receives a framed jersey after breaking the school record for most career kills.

Photo by Kaelin Triggs, Delta Dunklin Democrat.

Brinley previously broke the school record in 2023 as a junior, but now she continues to extend the record in her final season. Now, she has a new goal of getting the Missouri record in career assists. The current record is 3,920 assists. This was set by Sydney Brooke Golden from Nixa High School in 2021.

“It’s going to be really hard,” Brinley said. “But I know I can do it with my teammates. It’s about every single one of us coming together and being there for each other and each other’s goals.”

Along with her assists record, Brinley also surpassed 1,000 career digs which puts her as third all time in Clarkton history.

Despite these personal milestones and school records, Johnson and Brinley’s only focus has been on the success of the team and their teammates. In their words, it’s all about this family they have found on the court.

“It’s not just yourself out there,” Brinley said. “You can’t be selfish with it. You have to work together. When you know your teammates can put it down, it just helps with my confidence setting them up.”

In each game, the Reindeer all wear uniform arm sleeves. On the side of the sleeve it reads ‘Family’.

In the huddles, as the team comes together to motivate each other with pep talks and strategize before the next play, the team breaks and they roar a shout of oneness. They shout ‘Family’ to show they are all in this together.

They said this connection has helped them find success as individuals and as a team this season. According to head coach Amy Cowart, the success comes from wanting to play together.

Clarkton's Brinely Cowart, 7, sets up Angel Johnson, 8, as she runs to her position for a kill against Risco.

Photo by Kaelin Triggs, Delta Dunklin Democrat

“They’re just having fun,” Amy said. “They work together and enjoy every point. Sometimes they tend to goof off but they work well together.”

Amy said she has been coaching this group of girls since they were 8 years old. Brinley has been coached by Amy all of her life as Brinley is Amy’s daughter.

The Clarkton Reindeer are 14-2 this season, including one tie at the Dig for Life Tournament. In fact, both of their losses have come from games at the Dig for Life Tournament. Outside of tournament play, the team has not dropped a set, winning 3-0 in every match up so far this season.

According to Amy, watching her daughter and Johnson along with the rest of the senior class grow up from not even being able to get the ball over the net to where they are now has been an amazing journey to watch.

“To watch Angel achieve a goal she had when she was 13 years old is really special,” Amy said. “Brinely broke a milestone she has been working on since she was a freshman. This is her fourth year running our offense and she probably has the highest volleyball IQ out of anyone I’ve ever coached. That might be because she’s lived in a house with a coach her entire life and I had to drag her from court to court, but she studies the game on her own because she wants to be a better player.”

The two seniors are best friends. They are so closely tied to each other, sometimes their own teachers will confuse one with the other in class.

However, according to Johnson, this friendship goes way beyond volleyball. She said it actually started in the church and she hopes this is a friendship which will last outside of this lifetime.

“It’s kind of gut wrenching that our time on the court together is almost over,” Johnson said. “But I’m not planning on ending this friendship just because volleyball has ended. This friendship didn’t start on the court so it shouldn’t end there either, we are rooted in Christ and we became friends at church. The amount of trust I have in her is incredible and it’s a really good feeling to know I have a really good friend for life coming out of high school.”

Amy admires her daughter’s friendship on and off the court as well.

She is sad to see this 10 year journey come to an end, but she is happy to have witnessed this duo which was curated from childhood.

“To see them work together is the best thing I’ve ever watched,” Amy said. “You can just tell the chemistry. It’s beautiful. It’s the best setter-hitter duo I’ve ever had and they are really fun to watch. This team is a special group of kids for sure.”