Club Ball Triggers Run of Success

By Matt Levins

The Hawk Eye

MEDIAPOLIS -- Mediapolis High School seniors Jo Kester and Ashlei Jandrey fondly remember their seventh-grade year. Those long journeys to Iowa City every Wednesday and Sunday afternoon.

Kester, who lives in Mediapolis, and Jandrey, who lived in Mount Pleasant, played on the same River Cities Juniors club volleyball team based in Iowa City.

Every Wednesday after school, Kester would catch a ride with Jandrey's father, Dennis, who is the Mediapolis High School volleyball coach. Jandrey would give Kester a ride to his Mount Pleasant home, and his wife Angie would drive Jo and Ashlei to practice. Kester would spend the night at the Jandrey's house, then get a ride back to school from Dennis Thursday morning. Before school started, she would make up the track practice she missed the previous night.

On the weekend, it was Gary and Nancy Kester's turn to drive the girls to practice.

Little did Jo and Ashlei know, they would become teammates on the Mediapolis High School team their senior year. With the majority of the Bullettes having played club volleyball, Mediapolis is having one of its best seasons ever this year.

Using the club experience as a springboard, sixth-ranked Mediapolis has qualified for the state tournament today at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.

Mediapolis (31-4-5) will play top-ranked Rock Valley (33-1-2) in a Class 1A quarterfinal match at 1 p.m. on Court 1. The Bullettes will not be awestruck when they take the court. They played in big tournaments in big arenas in front of big crowds plenty of times in club volleyball. They hope the experience will come in handy today.

"There is nothing these kids haven't seen before," Dennis Jandrey said. "They have already been everywhere and seen everything. There is nothing any team can throw at them that they haven't already seen."

"Club is like having a whole extra season of volleyball," Kester said. "It has helped tons. You can tell by the experience how much better we are this year. We are more aware of the floor and smarter about the game. Club is a credit to a lot of our success."

"Playing club really helped our ability. It helps with the way we play the court and the way we see the court," said Ashlei Jandrey, the Bullettes' setter.

"I really like volleyball and I figured playing club would help me better my skills and take it to the next level," Mediapolis senior outside hitter Margaret Kuenzler said. "It's really helped us come together as a team and learn a lot of different phases and what to do in certain situations."

"We took what we learned from club and put it in our game -- different sets, different hits, different plays. It definitely expanded our offense," said Mediapolis junior defensive specialist Meta Kramer.

The Bullettes, along with playing on various Great River Juniors teams, formed their own Mediapolis team last spring.

Club volleyball brought the Bullettes closer together. It was a bonding process as they spent their days and nights together, traveling across the Midwest. From Peoria, Ill., to Kansas City to Minneapolis, the club volleyball season took them thousands of miles to face top-notch competition.

The players had their share of fun and memorable moments. There was the time last spring when Great Rivers Juniors club took them to Minneapolis. Ashlei Jandrey, Kramer and Keokuk Cardinal Stritch senior Jennifer Goetz were hanging out together at the team's hotel when they found out the Cleveland Indians were staying in the same hotel. Goetz, a big Indians fan, desperately wanted to meet Cleveland first baseman Jim Thome.

The girls stayed up until the early morning hours, walking the hotel floors, checking the lobby looking for Thome. They finally accomplished their mission, meeting Thome shortly after 2 a.m. They not only got to meet Thome and get his autograph, they also got their picture taken with him. It was something they will never forget.

"That was the best night of our lives," Kramer said. "We stayed up until 3 in the morning and we got to meet the Cleveland Indians. It was great."

"They were so excited that they got their picture taken with him," Coach Jandrey said. "When they came back to their rooms, they were talking so fast you couldn't understand them."

Playing club volleyball has brought the team closer together. In fact, Ashlei Jandrey and Kramer became best friends after meeting in club volleyball. It was Kramer who convinced Jandrey's mother, Angie, to let Ashlei transfer to Mediapolis for her senior year.

"We were at a tournament in Warrensburg, Mo.," Ashlei Jandrey explained. "My mom was concerned about the adjustments I would have to make. Meta went up in the bleachers and talked to my mom about it. She convinced her that it would be all right."

"We sat in the bleachers together and she told me about Ashlei wanting to go to Mediapolis," Kramer said of Angie Jandrey. "I tried to encourage her a lot. I told her that Ashlei has a good personality and she fits in well at Mediapolis."

Club volleyball not only gave the Bullettes a chance to bond with each other and meet new friends, it also provided them an opportunity to play against some of the best players from around the Midwest. The Bullettes found that playing against tough competition made them better.

"Before we started running our fast offense, we saw a lot of it in club," Kester said. "It even helped us learn how to defend against it, too."

"Jo and I have been playing club so long -- it really helps," Jandrey said. "Playing club together lets me know what kind of hitters they are and it makes it a lot easier to run our faster offense."

"In club we see a lot bigger people," Kuenzler said. "You learn how to hit around the block. The serving (in club) is a lot tougher. It helps make your skills a lot better for the regular season."

"You get more experience watching the hitters and learning where they are going to go, either cross-court or down the line, or if they are going to tip," Kramer said. "If we didn't put in all that extra time and effort, I don't think we would be where we are at now."

Coach Jandrey sees the whole experience as something each of the players will look back on and cherish the rest of their lives.

"I think we have been blessed by this whole thing," Coach Jandrey said. "This will give them memories they will never forget. When all is said and done, that's what we coaches are trying to do -- give these kids memories they will never forget. That's what it's all about."