Eagles Volleyball Stays Resilient During Rebuild

The Lady Eagles volleyball team finished their 2023 season with a 10-19 record and made 2nd place in Class 3 District 9.

Sullivan was coming off a district championship-winning season in 2022, but seven of the seniors on that team had graduated, so head coach Sarah Rochleau understood that it was going to be a rebuilding season. She described it as a “learning process,” stating, “We knew we had to be patient this year. We knew it was going to take some time trying to figure out who belonged and what role…It took us probably until almost the end of the season before we had that nailed down.”

Through all the rotation changes and figuring out their chemistry on the court, the Lady Eagles stayed resilient and kept fighting even when opponents outmatched them.

“We learned a lot about just ourselves, about mental toughness, about how to compete, maybe when things aren’t evenly matched,” Rochleau explained.

They rose to every challenge because Rochleau pushed them to keep fighting through adversity, stay in games and not let losses get them down. Their resilience led them to their second consecutive district championship after sweeping Owensville in all three sets during the semifinals.

“In the semifinal game, we showed up ready to play. I was very pleased with our focus and our execution,” Rochleau said. “I just thought overall it was one of our better nights of the year and I was really, really proud of the girls for stepping up in kind of a high stakes situation.”

In the district championship, St. Clair beat the Lady Eagles, but Sullivan put up a great fight and showed potential for the next year.

They will gain some great weapons for the upcoming season, as Rochleau explained, “I’m really excited about our JV and C team squads who have had excellent seasons. There’s some definitely potential varsity contributors there, so it’ll just be interesting to see who’s gonna improve in the offseason.”

The junior varsity group went undefeated in conference play this season and the C team finished strongly in numerous tournaments. Varsity will be in good hands in the future.

The players from these teams will help fill the void of the four seniors who will be graduating: setter Raegan Johnson, libero Delaney George, outside hitter Emily Clonts and defensive specialist Aleah Hunter.

“I was also just really proud of all of our seniors, I think all four of them played some pretty significant roles on the team this year,” Rochleau stated. “Our captains, Raegan and Emily, both kind of proved themselves that we needed them on the court pretty much all the time and so I was really proud of their efforts and their leadership this year.”

Johnson has played varsity since she was a freshman and was also selected for 1st team all-district, while Clonts led her team with 52 aces and 157 points during the season.

The other two seniors include George, who was a 2nd team all-district selection and led the team with 281 digs and Hunter, who provided crucial passes.

Sophomore middle blocker Ava Blankenship has also emerged as a leader on the court, earning both 1st team all-conference and all-district honors. Blankenship had a team-high of 620 attacks, 266 kills and 57 blocks. Regarding her excellent performance, Rochleau stated that “I don’t think we could have won without her on the court. So, she was definitely a key critical part of all of our successes this year.”

For the rebuild, Rochleau is excited to see her team progress in the next season, despite the growing pains they had to endure against tough opponents and through losses this past year. Also, with the resilient attitude shown by this team, finishing 2nd in districts and the influx of talented JV/C team players coming up ahead, the Lady Eagles have a bright future ahead.

Rochleau described her plans for the team in the offseason as follows: “I’m hoping that some of our athletes are gonna really work hard in the offseason and develop those attacking talents a little bit and then come back together and hopefully get the team really working together to have a great year.”