Mabel-Canton serving it up with youth

Oct. 7—Youth is being served on the Mabel-Canton volleyball team like never before.

The Cougars' starting middle hitters, Kinley Soiney and Saijal Slafter, are an eighth-grader and freshman, respectively. M-C's starting setter is a freshman, Sahara Morken.

That's three of the Cougars' top players being freshmen or younger. Still, M-C remains one of the top Class A teams in the state, at 18-3 overall and ranked fifth. It's unbeaten in the Southeast Conference and has downed top contenders Lanesboro and Spring Grove twice and once, respectively.

"I've never had two middle hitters starting at the same time who were that young," longtime M-C head coach Lonnie Morken said. "And I've never had a setter starting with two middle hitters who were that young."

Morken knew he had some monstrous shoes to fill with Kenidi McCabe — one of the top couple of players ever to come through the M-C program — graduating last spring. McCabe had been a starter since she was in eighth grade and a starting setter since her freshman year.

Replacing the All-State player figured to be no easy task.

Yet, it's turned out better than Morken anticipated and that's thanks to the volleyball acumen and talent of his freshman daughter, Sahara.

Smart, skilled, versed and athletic, Sahara, who was a libero last year, has beautifully taken to the setter position. While not nearly at McCabe's level yet, the freshman has surely made things work. Sahara has 613 assists in 55 games . She's also the team's top server with 44 aces and a success rate of 98% on her serves.

"Sahara is having a really good year for us," said Morken, whose junior daughter Sophie Morken is a force at the net. "Sahara is a major reason we are where we are."

Those other previously mentioned youngsters, middle hitters Slafter (5-foot-8) and Soiney (5-9), also deserve a bunch of credit.

Morken said they've gone from fairly solid to start the year to a whole lot better than that now. At their age, that quick improvement doesn't surprise him.

"The good thing about young players like that is the amount of growth they can show in one season," Morken said. "They're learning things every day. And it's nice to have young kids who are as talented as they are."

P-E-M's Braun, players learning quickly

At the age of 23, Lillian Braun is already a high school volleyball head coach.

Not only is the former Kasson-Mantorville and Saint Mary's University star remarkably young for that role, but she inherited a Plainview-Elgin-Millville team that is also stunningly inexperienced. Just one player returned from last year's Bulldogs varsity lineup.

So, how's it going?

Well, it depends on how you look at it. In terms of winning, it's been a struggle. P-E-M has won just three of 16 matches.

But Braun is trying not to get completely hung up on wins and losses. Instead, her intent — particularly this first season — is to give these players a reason to come back next year, all while teaching them the game.

Braun has even gone as far as to consider herself something other than a "coach."

"It's important for me to stop thinking about myself as a (coach), but instead more of an experience creator," Braun said. "You have to show them what is going on instead of telling them. I think my competitiveness and my passion for the game shows them a lot. The players see that and they see that I really do want to be here."

It's Braun's hope that all of that rubs off on these teenagers and that they also want to be in the gym with her, working on volleyball for the long haul.

She sees a brightness about them at practices these days. She also sees loads of improvement. What's now in front of her is a far cry from what she witnessed the first few weeks of practice.

"It's night and day different now," Braun said. "There is a lot more resilience to these girls now."

It makes Braun eager for what might happen next season.

"I think they'll know the expectations and what our culture is going to be, Braun said. "You work hard and you make sure you are a good teammate."

Notable

Red Wing's Hallie Roschen went over 1,000 set assists on Sept. 4.