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CHS volleyball summer sessions draw to a close

Posted July 30, 2016 11:00 pm

By Jim Beers Contributing Writer

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of a two-part series profiling the seniors of Chester High School's volleyball team. See the first part HERE.

The summer of 2016 has been a very busy time for members of the Chester High School volleyball team.

Seniors Hannah Schweizer, Alexis McMath, Alyssa Keith and Haley Middendorf will return to pace the Lady Yellow Jackets this season after the team won a record 17 games in 2015.

This week's feature will highlight Alyssa Keith and Haley Middendorf.

Throughout her first three years at Chester, Keith has concentrated mostly on sports and she has a well-rounded list of sports and other extra-curricular activities.

Outside of high school activities, Keith is a mainstay on the Unleashed traveling softball team and keeps herself busy throughout the year as a charter member of the SILVA Club Volleyball team.

Awards and honors at CHS include earning all-conference softball honors as a sophomore and volleyball MVP last year as a junior to along with an all-conference selection by the Black Diamond Conference.

She also earned all-conference, all-south and all-state honors in softball.

"I definitely want to play volleyball in college," Keith said. "I will play at any level if the opportunity presents itself.

"My future career goal is to become a radiologist."

During the 2015 season, Keith recorded 31 kills, 115 digs, 261 assists, nine blocks and 13 aces. Thus far in the summer sessions, she had recorded 71 kills, 234 digs, 216 assists, six blocks and 25 aces.

"I want us to work toward passing last year's record-setting year of 17 wins and I would love for us to make the state tournament," Keith said.

This summer, besides working hard individually with training, conditioning and skill improvement, Keith has been very active in the summer program with her fellow Lady Yellow Jackets.

She competed at the Southern Illinois University Volleyball Camp, where she earned the "G-Award" for being the "Player of the Camp".

Keith has also competed at the home scrimmages and tournaments and scrimmages at Sparta, New Athens, Carbondale and Perryville.

July 22-27 she and two other Lady Yellow Jackets traveled with coach Chad Koenegstein to the UCCS Elite Camp in Colorado and July 29-31, she traveled to the Parkland College Camp.

Middendorf is an avid sports enthusiast who excels in volleyball, softball and basketball. She has served as co-chairman of the 2015 Sports for the Cure activity, which raised funds to help fight breast cancer.

She was also involved in the recent CHS musical production of "Wizard of Oz."

When not busy with sports and extracurricular activities at CHS,Middendorf stays very busy as a key player on the Unleashed traveling softball team and she plays volleyball as a member of the SILVA Club Volleyball team.

At CHS, Middendorf has earned several honors and awards. As a sophomore, she was named All-Conference of the Black Diamond Conference in both volleyball and softball and was named the Most Valuable Player on the Lady Yellow Jackets softball team.

As a junior Middendorf won the "Defensive Award" for basketball and earned an Honorable Mention all-conference nod.

This spring, she won the Defensive Award for softball and she was presented with a CHS Three-Sport Athlete Award.

"I really hope to continue playing sports at the college level either in softball or volleyball," Middendorf said. "My career choice is to enter the medical field, possibly becoming an OBGYN eventually."

Last season, Middendorf recorded 92 kills, 232 digs, eight assists, nine blocks and 27 aces. During the summer sessions thus far, she has recorded 34 kills, 70 digs, one assist, three blocks and 12 aces.

"I would like for us to win the conference and become the Black Diamond Conference champions," Middendorf said. "In addition, I hope that we can win the regional tournament.

She was also asked her individual goals.

"I want to provide my teammates with good three-option passes so the hitters can execute well," she said. "I further want to provide strong defense and accommodate the hitters."

In preparation for the upcoming season and to fulfill her leadership role, Middendorf has attended the Lindenwood Volleyball Camp at St. Charles and the Parkland College Camp July 29-31.

"It will be a great season if all of our graduating seniors can get scholarships to play at some college level," Koenegstein said. "That would surely set a good example for our underclassmen. "

Regarding goals for the upcoming season Koenegstein said he hopes to continue to build Chester's volleyball culture.

"By that I mean our upperclassmen need to set good examples and be positive," he said. "There should be no complaining among the ranks and we need to show future players that college scholarships are possible.

"Finally, we need to continue to develop leadership among our players."

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