Hartsburg-Emden keeps on winning as Hayes reaches 1,000 career kills and counting

[October 03, 2017] 

The Hartem Stags volleyball team hosted Midwest Central Monday night and it was business as usual in the win column for the home team. The Stags defeated the Raiders 25-14 and 25-11 to improve their record to 17-3 on the season.

However, the gym was buzzing with extra excitement on this evening as the crowd roared for a special occasion. Junior Anna Hayes, a slender yet powerful-swinging 6-foot outside hitter, reached her 1000th career kill moments into the first set. Hayes only needed three kills to reach the elite milestone and she did so on her first three swings. Her teammates got her the ball quickly three consecutive times and the junior delivered. Her 1,000th career kill was followed by a loud round of applause and fans in the stands held signs signaling the achievement.

Brothers Austin and Alec were just two of the big supporters who held up the numbers. Older brother Alec, who is now a freshman at Monmouth College, has only missed two of his little sister’s volleyball games this season. After achieving the milestone, mom and coach Jennifer Hayes rested Anna for much of the first set. The mother-daughter duo flashed a couple smiles back and forth at one another, both obviously feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment as the moment settled in. The junior still went on to have 12 kills on the evening, despite the time spent on the sidelines.

Coach Jennifer Hayes applauds daughter Anna following the timeout that recognized her 1000th kill.

Daughter Anna couldn’t help but smile after the win, personal achievement aside, she is just elated with how well her team is performing this year. “We’ve all been working so hard this season,” said the younger Hayes after the game. “We have the Quincy Tournament this weekend and that should be fun. It’s a really big tournament and we’ve only won it a few times. That’s our goal this weekend ~ to win at Quincy.” Hayes believes it was 2006 when the state championship team back then won the Quincy Tournament. As far as further goals for the season, Hayes simply said, "Just keep winning, game by game.”

Often times it’s a fine line coaching your own child, as both men and women coaches have experienced such trials and tribulations. For the Hayes family, it’s easy to see the joys of the relationship on and off the court. Both situations have fostered a positive bond and the end result is heartwarming to see. While the girls are busy on the court, the boys are busy cheering, keeping stats and basically doing whatever they are told to do from the stands. When the game's over, the family members are the first to find each other. On this night, after family and fan pictures of course, the younger Hayes had to find mom and money so that she could go get a bite to eat. With money in hand, Anna darted off so her mom could talk.

“I’m so proud of her. She’s worked really hard,” said mom Jennifer. "When her dad (Aaron) started calculating, I was actually pretty surprised at how close she was already to 1,000 as a junior. I guess with anything else, the game comes first and the success of the team goes first. So we really don’t keep a calculation of individual stats. To find out that she was three kills shy was pretty surprising to me. And I was really trying to keep it from her so there really wasn’t any pressure on her.” The younger Hayes performed Monday night like it was any other game, certainly no signs of pressure.

Anna Hayes slams one of her kills (number 1008 to be exact) against Midwest Central.

“She seemed to come out and play and play well,” said Coach Hayes of her daughter. "The fans got into it for her. They made signs so that was super-sweet. For me it’s just a 1,000 good decisions, 1,000 points that she got for her team and it calculated to a lot of wins for this season and that’s what she did for the last three years. I guess from here what do you do? You just get more kills to be more successful for your team and see how far you can go in the next year and a half.”

Coach Hayes went on to add that while individual records are nice, “We don’t know them until they happen. That’s what my husband’s for,” she laughed. “Aaron is pretty handy. He likes those numbers.”

Mary Rankin holds the school record for kills. Rankin amassed 1,079 career kills and she in fact didn’t know about that record until the senior sports banquet according to Coach Hayes.

Hartem Varsity stats

Grace Beekman 8 points 16 assists
Anna Hayes 12 kills 4 blocks
Lexi Barry 5 digs

Anna Hayes (11) is all smiles with family and friends following the match that saw the junior reach 1000 career kills.

No celebration is complete without balloons and a decorated cookie.

[Teena Lowery]