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Emerging Kennett VB provides bright spot for Indian followers this fall
A bright spot within the Kennett High School fall sports season was the much-improved play of the Indians’ volleyball squad.
Kennett snapped a three-year skid of losing seasons and finished the year with an 18-16-1 mark with nary a senior on the roster.
“Our theme (this season) was to elevate,” Indian coach Kristy Green said following her team’s loss to Dexter in the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Tournament. “I picked that theme very specifically for this group.”
Green returned to coaching at Kennett last season after having done so 11 years earlier in her career, and what she inherited was an incredibly young program.
“We had freshmen and sophomores only playing varsity,” Green said of the 10-win season in 2023. “Had that group been a true (junior varsity team), we would have seen a different record.
“But they battled. They went through a lot of tough losses.”
And they improved tremendously.
The Indians had four players earn postseason honors as members of the All-SEMO Conference South Division First and Second Teams, including junior Ella Gardner, who was named the league’s Setter of the Year and was a First Team selection.
Gardner was joined by sophomore Olivia Raspberry and junior Kynsly McCaig on the top team while junior Tayja Carter was named to the All-SEMO Conference Second Team.
“Last year,” Green explained, “we would win a big (set), but not be able to hold on. This year, our theme was to elevate and push through and grow through that (adversity) and work together mentally to become more mentally tough.”
This fall, Kennett only lost one time to a program that didn’t have a winning record, which showed growth from 2023.
“Our record showed,” Green continued. “We nearly doubled it.”
What made the development even more impressive was the purposeful difficulty of the Indians’ schedule.
Green said she toughened the schedule this season, for example, “putting us in the upper division of the Dig For Life Tournament,” Green explained.
Kennett topped winning programs such as Campbell (17 wins), Holcomb twice (23 wins), New Madrid County Central twice (13 wins), and Clarkton (29 wins).
Green’s kids won sets against Notre Dame (24 wins), Bernie (19 wins), and Scott City (21 wins). The Bulldogs and Mules each won District titles while the Rams played for the championship in their District.
“We don’t see these (top) teams, even in our offseason,” Green said. “We play in a pretty tough conference and District. I told them that I wouldn’t talk about them being young this year, but it is the reality of it.
“I tried to focus this season on finding the wins within everything, because (the players) have earned that. They deserved that.”