State Champions!
 
West Lincoln Broadwell wins the 8th Grade Class 1A State Tournament
 

[March 21, 2022]  The West Lincoln Broadwell Lady Wolverines brought home the first place trophy Saturday night from the 2022 8th Grade Class 1A State Tournament in Assumption. 

After defeating Peoria Limestone Walters 25-19 and 25-21 Friday night in the first round, the Lady Wolverines advanced to the final four on Saturday. 

The Lady Wolverines continued to tear through the competition on Saturday, with a semifinal win in two sets over Decatur Lutheran 25-20 and 26-24 in the morning.

Advancing to the afternoon state championship match, the Lady Wolverines took down undefeated Cissna Park in two sets, 25-20 and 25-22. 

West Lincoln Broadwell trailed Cissna Park for much of the first set, falling behind 6-10 early and finally reaching a 15-15 tie. After taking a brief 16-15 lead, the Lady Wolverines found themselves in a 16-18 deficit to the Wildcats. West Lincoln Broadwell used a 7-0 run to take over the game with a 23-18 lead. With the momentum in the Lady Wolverine’s favor, they took the first set 25-20. 

The Lady Wolverines jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set and despite falling behind by a couple points early, they managed to fight their way back to a 10-10 tie. From that moment on, the Lady Wolverines controlled the game. A kill and an ace by Lily Holmes would put the Lady Wolverines up 15-11. The undefeated Wildcats did not go down easily. They took an 18-17 lead but just like that Jayden Behrends put down a monster kill and then served an ace to put the Lady Wolverines on top 19-18. West Lincoln Broadwell led by a point each volley down the stretch until the Wildcats tied the game 22-22 on a tip out of bounds by WLB. With Myah Bowman at the service line, taking a deep breath and serving the ball consistently over the net, the Lady Wolverines earned their final three points on kills by Holmes and the 25-22 win was in the books and the celebration began.

The West Lincoln Broadwell Lady Wolverines had surprised the Cissna Park Wildcats and given them their first loss of the season.

The Lady Wolverines celebrated the win on the court by jumping up and down jubilantly as coaches Kaylee Beekman and Chynna Farmer hugged each other after the emotional and hard fought wins. 

Beekman, who is in her first year coaching at West Lincoln Broadwell, showed coaching experience often seen in a veteran, but the young coach does have plenty of experience already on and off the volleyball court. Beekman was a state champion herself for the Hartsburg-Emden Stags ten years ago in junior high. She also served as an assistant coach under Stags coach Jennifer Hayes. Beekman also served as an assistant coach at Lincoln Land Community College and then was named the interim head coach at LLCC when the head coach left suddenly last Fall. Beekman handled the responsibilities well and recently when Hannah Werth was named the full-time coach, LLCC announced that Beekman would stay on as an assistant once again. Beekman is also pursuing her teaching degree while working at WLB. 

There were several instances on Saturday that Beekman saw her team fall behind, but she would not let them get down for long. For example, anxious to make it to the championship game, the Lady Wolverines might have already been looking past Decatur Lutheran in the semifinals, but Beekman reigned them back in pretty quickly. 

“I think the girls were just so focused on wanting to make it to the championship that they got a little off-focused because they were already focused on the next game,” said Beekman after the championship win. “They were already thinking about the end result of the game. So it was hard to keep them focused during that first game against Decatur Lutheran and they kind of lost sight of what their mechanics looked like and what they were supposed to be doing. I had to remind them it’s point for point, every single play counts so that we can get to the state championship.”

Her team followed through with the mechanics, making the plays and eventually winning a thrilling second set over Decatur Lutheran 26-24 that catapulted them into the championship match.

This time the opponent was the undefeated Cissna Park Wildcats.  

Beekman saw her team fall behind 6-10 in set one of the state championship match and she quickly called a timeout, upset with what she was seeing on the court. Beekman addressed each of her starters individually and her words got results.

“I told them that they needed to think about what each one of them needed to do individually to then help the team as a whole,” said Beekman. “I reminded them of what they needed to work on mechanically. They have something in their head. Before every game I ask them, ‘What are you focusing on today?’ They each told me and I said, ‘You have to be your best self to be able to impact and help this team to win this game.’ They went out and they knew exactly what they were focusing on, zeroed in on it and executed.” That talk at the timeout worked and WLB took set one 25-20. 

In the second set the Lady Wolverines were in front 4-1 early with 8th grader Lily Holmes serving up aces and throwing down kills. That was just what WLB needed to get started off on the right foot. 

Beekman recognized the importance of the early lead in set two and she felt very confident in her team.

Congratulations to the State Champions ~ The West Lincoln Broadwell Lady Wolverines! Photo courtesy of Dana Holmes.

"After the first set, I felt very confident going into the second set,” said Beekman. “I had all the confidence in the world in all of them. I knew that they were going to be able to go out and do it.” 

The undefeated Cissna Park Wildcats honestly didn’t seem like they knew how to handle the Lady Wolverines. 

Beekman agreed. 

“That’s kind of what I was thinking,” said Beekman. “That’s why after the first set I had a lot of confidence. They (Cissna Park) looked shook. They have an amazing athlete, no. 4 (Addison Lucht) over there. And I told the girls, ‘Do not let her discourage you.’ She’s going to get her swings. She’s going to get the points. But we tried to keep the ball away from her and we could just not make mistakes on our end.”

In the end, it was six eighth graders playing hard for WLB on the court and getting the 25-22 win in set two.

The win was especially sweet for this group of athletes, who also play basketball, and they fell short in the postseason due to illnesses that swept through the team. Not to mention, they are another group of eighth graders who were denied any chance of a volleyball postseason at the state level in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19. 

For a first year coach winning a state championship, you just can’t get any better of a season than that. Beekman agreed. 

“No, you can’t,” laughed Beekman. “I am just extremely grateful and thankful to come in and have this awesome group of girls I got to work with this year. I mean they are all superb athletes and great people as well. That’s a big thing that I preach. Like I want to make you the best volleyball player but I also want you to be a good human. I am just blessed to have gotten to work with each and every one of them.” 

Having experienced success as a player, the question had to be asked for comparison, how is this feeling different as a coach? 

“I told Chynna Farmer actually yesterday that I am more nervous as a coach than I was as a player,” said Beekman. “I just have to put faith into my girls that they will take what I have taught them and what they know how to do and then relay that on the court. It just reminds me of why I love the game. Just to watch them and see how much excitement they have and how much they love it on the court and then I go back to when I was in 8th grade ten years ago winning State and I have that feeling all over again. It’s so rewarding to see them experience the same things I did. I just hope that I have an impact on them the way that my coaches have had on me.”

It’s a good bet she does. 

Congratulations, Lady Wolverines, on your State Championship! 

West Lincoln Broadwell ends their championship run with a 22-2 record. 

Stats provided by Coach Kaylee Beekman

WLB versus Peoria Limestone Walters Stats:

Lily Holmes- 8 kills, 8 service points, 1 ace

Dabria Dalpoas- 4 service points

Jayden Behrends- 4 service points, 1 ace, 3 kills 

WLB versus Decatur Lutheran Stats: 

Lily Holmes- 13 service points, 2 aces

Jayden Behrends- 10 kills, 3 blocks 

Mesa McCloud- 19 assists 

Mia Clark- 6 service points, 1 ace 

WLB versus Cissna Park Stats: 

Lily Holmes- 12 service points, 7 aces, 9 kills 

Jayden Behrends- 2 blocks, 2 aces

Mesa McCloud- 17 assists 

Myah Bowman- 7 service points 

Grace Schneider- 5 digs 

West Lincoln Broadwell Roster 

Lily Holmes

Paisley Holmes

Amaya Randall

Sage Gilbert

Grace Schneider 

Cheyenne Madrano

Elizabeth Chen

Grey Gilbert

Mia Clark

Mesa McCloud

Dabria Dalpoas

Norah Block

Myah Bowman

Ella Schneider

Jayden Behrends

Coaches 

Head Coach Kaylee Beekman

Assistant Coach Chynna Farmer

Managers Bianco Rohlfs and Marin Luckhart 

[Teena Lowery]