Hartsburg-Emden claims the 2017 Class 8-1A State Championship trophy

[March 22, 2017]  Hartem Head Coach Jennifer Hayes and those who never ever give up Stags, just added another trophy to the small school’s volleyball collection. Make this first place trophy number 26 and counting.

The Stags have now won nine of the last 11 state championships in Class 8-1A competition, and Tuesday night in New Berlin marked their sixth championship in a row.

Give these ladies a standing ovation.

Even though the Stags managed to roll past the previously undefeated Grayville Bison in Tuesday’s state championship matchup, the first set started out with Hartem finding themselves in big trouble.

The Stags got down 7-0 before an error by the Bison finally allowed Hartem to get a point on the scoreboard.

Grayville continued to play near-perfect volleyball and ran the lead up to 9-1 on the Stags before Coach Hayes finally was forced to call a timeout. 'Time to right the ship,' as Coach Hayes likes to say.

Grace Beekman, who led the Stags with 15 kills, came up with her first kill shortly after that timeout to make the score 10-2 and boy did the Hartem faithful love that hit. The fans were hungry for something to cheer about and Beekman came through.

Brianna Grabowski then came up strong at the net with a tip and then a kill and the Stags were creeping back into this one.

Sixth-grader Lily Barry’s enormously powerful kill then made the crowd go “Oh!”

More importantly, Grayville’s lead was cut in half thanks to Barry, 14-7 now the score.

Then with Barry at the service line, the Stags inched their way closer, 14-10 and Grayville was forced to call timeout. With Barry still serving those bullet serves, the Stags just kept getting closer, this time 14-12.

Give credit to the Bison, they kept their composure and maintained an 18-15 lead on the Stags.

But then the tide turned in the Stags favor.

First a hitting error by the Bison’s Kami Johnson gave the Stags a point. Then Beekman got a perfect set from Allison Woolard and slammed it into next week. Right after that Jaedyn Rybolt fired off a serve that just landed inbounds and brought the crowd to its feet. Tie ballgame at 18-18.

But Hartem was not finished.

With Rybolt still serving, Hartem took the lead on a tip back over the net by Beekman and the crowd really loved how the Stags fought their way back to a 19-18 lead, the first of the set for the orange and black.

Grayville tied the score but Cassie Crabtree would enter the game and her hit surprised the Bison defense and she earned the lead back for Hartem, 20-19 the score.

Hartem would not let that lead slip away. Hattie Langley served the Stags to a 22-19 lead, with a little help from another Beekman kill.

After Grayville got a point on a hitting error by Barry, that would be all the scoring for the Bison. Hartem went on to get kills by Barry and Beekman to put away the Bison 25-20 in set one. What a comeback by the mighty Stags!

Set two began with the Stags appearing a lot more relaxed and confident. Beekman came out of the huddle practically swinging and her kills would quickly jumpstart the Stags to a 4-2 lead.

The Stags did get down to the Bison in set two, but by no more than a point. A little yelling from the sidelines from Coach Hayes and the Stags tied the game at 8-8. That would be the final tie of the set and from here on out the Stags were in control.

Beekman got on top of the ball like she’s done so many times before and her kill was like the shot heard ‘round the world. Hartem was up 11-10 but by the sound of the crowd you would have thought that was game point already.

A string of ace serves by Rybolt put Hartem up 16-10 and the thought of another state title being within reach was beginning to sink in. With Barry coming up with a couple kills of her own, you could see the smile starting to form on her face as the score was now 20-14. Her teammates were feeling the excitement, too.

Grabowski’s kill made it 21-16 and then Rybolt’s little toss over the net that froze the Bison in their tracks, made it 22-16. Grabowski played a great game all around, but she really shined at the end with another kill and then the eighth-grader finished it off with an ace serve.

The Hartem bench went wild and the players on the court swarmed each other as the final score was reached, 25-17. Another state title for the Stags!

Worth mentioning again, that’s 26 first place finishes alone, for Coach Hayes and her teams.

For Hattie Langley, she now has four medals and the biggest smile across her face following Tuesday night’s state championship. “I feel amazing. I love playing at state,” she said. “It’s the best feeling. Winning. Everything.”

But what about the woman who has guided these ladies to state?

“Oh my gosh, she is definitely my number one,” said Langley of Coach Hayes, adding, “She is the best. I have no words. I can’t even explain. She is just incredible. I love her so much and she is just the best coach that anyone could ever have. Every team would want her.”

Langley is right. And teammate Grace Beekman agrees. “I am so thankful for Coach Hayes. I could not do anything on our team today without her. She is such an inspiration and such a big part of my life. I am so happy to have her as a coach,” said Beekman.
Brianna Grabowski, an eighth-grader who earned her fourth medal with the win, was also all smiles, too. She was really excited and said, “It’s amazing when you win state. It’s a great feeling.”

As far as Coach Hayes, Grabowski added her two cents when asked, “She really puts a lot into our team and she has a connection with us. She’s different than other coaches. She’s always there and she loves us, you know. It’s really fun.”

Finally, Grabowski added this about getting down early to Grayville and coming back, “I was getting nervous but I knew we’d pull it back. We always do.”

Yes, the Stags always do. This particular group has been undefeated now for two years and finish the 2017 season with a perfect 28-0 record.

As the gym lights began to dim Tuesday night, Coach Hayes stood in the suddenly quiet Pretzel Dome holding the trophy. She took a deep breath of her own. The crowd had already headed for the parking lot after hanging around the court a while taking pictures and congratulating players and the coaching staff.

The veteran coach herself had many well-wishers come her way after the win, but the most impressive were the referees who stepped forward one by one to shake hands with the now 26-time IESA State Champion.

Coach Hayes takes it all in stride with a smile. She is unfazed by the attention, humbling saying, “thank you” over and over, yet focused on her team’s accomplishments and exciting win.

“I knew it was going to be a good game,” she said after the win. Noting that the girls remembered going three with the Grayville seventh-graders last week, she said, “They had that in the back of their mind so they knew coming in a lot was at stake.”

Coach Hayes continued, “Grayville came out, had some great serves and ran their offense. They got us back on our heels and we couldn’t run our offense. I called timeout and talked them back down. Figure out what we need to do. We needed to visual what we needed to see. Shake off what was done. It was over. You know start climbing that ladder and get out of that hole. So that’s what we did and you could start seeing it happen. You could start feeling it happen. We were starting to make some plays. We started setting it up. We started to hit the ball better. Serve receive was a lot better. And we just calmed down.

I knew if I could ever 'right the ship' it would be okay.

We got it tied and I knew if we could take the lead and then we did, and finished it. We switched sides, did it in two and just took care of business.”

Coach Hayes has been taking care of business at the helm of the Hartem volleyball ship since the age of 21. When asked about some of her favorite volleyball memories, several came to mind and she was more than willing to share stories.

The first memory that she shared was a once in a lifetime volleyball coaching experience. She admitted that for her very first state championship game, she wore a dress. “I can’t even begin to tell you why in the world....(insert laughter)....I guess I thought I should really dress up for the state championship game.” Looking back on the moment, she just kept laughing, saying, “That was absolutely insane.” With all the bending down and standing up she was doing coaching while wearing a dress, it was a bit inconvenient to say the least. Later after the win, she had to ride on a firetruck wearing a dress. She still laughs and says, “That never happened again.”

Near and dear to her heart is that first championship for eighth grade. “My first ever eighth grade, because I kept getting second and I kept getting second,” and she continues, gritting her teeth now, “I kept getting second and then third. So my first eighth grade one (state championship) was a real big one with a really good group of girls, I mean they all are, but we were at Mount Pulaski so that was really kind of sweet that I got it there.”

Another special one involved her twins. “I was in a state championship game when I had the twins. I ended up second that year because I had to leave. So that’s always like a memory, we didn’t win it, but I won two babies. So that was a big one.”

Coach Hayes described the turn of events in more detail and talked about making it through a three-game thriller on that Saturday and going back on a Monday and making it through another “three-game dinger” and still making it through, babies intact. The semifinals she said pushed her over the edge. “I remember Donna Vaughan was my volleyball host mother and she was bringing me cold rags and putting them around my neck.” Vaughan kept asking Hayes if she was okay. Hayes laughed and said “I don’t know.”

Hayes then went into labor and told her husband, “I think I can make it.” Her husband told her, “No, no you can’t make it! We’ve got to go!” She said the girls were crying in the locker room and she was crying, having to leave them.

The EMT’s even told Coach Hayes, “We are not prepared for birthing any babies on the bench. You’ve got to go. We are not prepared for this.”

Coach Hayes’ dad ended up coaching the team to a second place finish.

“I didn’t win that one, but that was definitely a memory,” she said. “That was awesome. That’s been sixteen years.” Those twins, Anna and Austin, turned 16 on March 20th and just got their driver’s license before mom got another trophy.

Hayes also said there have been so many great ones in between. But without a doubt, asking her to pick a favorite is like asking a mom to pick a favorite child. With that being said, she brings up another state championship that she thought she had lost but turns out it wasn’t over and her team came back to win thanks to some ace serving from one of the Eeten girls.

And then, of course, there were the championships with her daughter, Anna. “Obviously, just because she’s mine, the first state tournament that I was able to win with Anna as a fifth-grader. You know I finally got my own daughter in and again it was a three game thriller that we won for the championship. I remember after the big win she came over and hugged me and I cried, so that was like a big one for me, her first ever as a fifth-grader.”

They won another state championship together when Anna was the eighth grade captain and mom even has a Stag tattoo to commemorate those special memories with her daughter and to celebrate Anna’s junior high career.

Fast forward to March 21, 2017, and the Hayes family has plenty of celebrating to do. “It was a big day in the household today,” she said smiling. “My husband got a new car, the twins got their driver’s license and I got a new trophy. Two new drivers, a new car and a new trophy, I’ll take it,” she laughed.

Meanwhile on the Tuesday eve of the win, Coach Hayes has a firetruck to catch as the celebration continues back in Logan County. The team was scheduled to meet the fire trucks on the overpass in Emden and hop on and travel to Hartsburg and then meet back at the school for pizza from Stuffed Aria of Lincoln. Cake, punch and candy were also on the menu.

It’s a great time to be a Stag! Congratulations ladies and much respect to Coach Hayes and her staff.

Stags stats

Grace Beekman 15 kills 6 blocks 6 digs
Brianna Grabowski 7 kills 4 digs
Jaedyn Rybolt 5 aces 10 points 6 assists
Allison Woolard 12 assists
Lily Barry 2 digs


Update on “Now go win STATE!”

According to Hartem's Hattie Langly's mom, Britta Langley, “Emily (Paulus of the WLB basketball state championship teams) and Hattie have been best friends, and they even have the same birthday. Lynn and I were in the hospital at the same time. Hattie was born an hour and twenty minutes before Emily, and Emily is six inches taller, so that’s always our joke. Hattie is like, “I don’t care, I’m older.”

Britta continues, “So when WLB goes to state in basketball, Hattie wears Emily’s t-shirt and when Hartsburg goes to state in volleyball, Emily wears Hattie’s t-shirt. Except the shirt that Emily is wearing tonight, it was Hattie’s fifth grade shirt.” It does run a little small on the taller Paulus girl. “So now we call it the half-shirt,” laughed Britta.

Fans may recall that Hartem knocked out WLB in regionals and after that game, Emily told her friend Hattie, “Now go win state.” Well, Hattie did what her friend told her to do.

And how about that name Hattie? How great is that name?! What’s even cooler is the story behind it. Britta didn’t want that name, even though her husband, Phil, did. While in the hospital, Britta says, “We didn’t have a name because I didn’t want Hattie as the name. Phil loved it. Then I went to take a shower and I came back and Phil and my dad had named her Hattie.” The story goes that even a nurse came in and commented about the name, but backed out of the room immediately upon realizing Britta was surprised to say the least at what Phil had done. Britta even took the baby home and apologized to little Hattie. “I said I am so sorry your dad named you this name,” she said she told her newborn. “I can’t get used to it at all. And now I can’t imagine her anything else.”

She’s Hattie with four state championship medals now.

[Teena Lowery]