Enjoyable, positivity driving Columbus volleyball

By Mike Warren
Sports Editor

MARSHFIELD – The keys to success for Columbus Catholic volleyball coach Kat Egle are easy – have enjoyable, bond as a crew and keep optimistic. That’s it. Nothing extra, nothing much less.

Not what you would possibly anticipate from a former volleyball participant whose highschool in southwestern Minnesota received three consecutive state championships her freshman, sophomore and junior years.

That might come as a shock to Columbus gamers and followers as a result of it’s not one thing Egle likes to speak about.

“I don’t like to live in the past. I want to stay humble,” mentioned Egle, who additionally performed one yr of faculty volleyball at UW-Stout.

“My personal goal was that we can be successful while having fun and bonding as a team without yelling and screaming, so I did the opposite of what I was trained to do. It was so near and dear to me, I’m like, ‘There has to be a way to succeed with a positive environment.’ So I kind of took what I didn’t enjoy and tried to turn a program into something I would’ve loved to have in high school – team unity, togetherness, having fun but working hard and trying at the end of the day being the best version of yourself,” Egle advised Hub City Times.

Kat’s teaching system has labored. In 12 seasons at Columbus Catholic, Egle has led the Dons to 4 Regional finals, 4 Sectional semifinal appearances, two Sectional championship video games and one state event berth.
But don’t give her any of the credit score.

“Every year it’s gotten better,” mentioned Egle. “The program got strong and now it’s stayed strong, not because of the coaching staff, but because of what the kids do. The kids are positive role models to those younger kids and they teach the younger ones, ‘Hey, this is fun. We’re a team. It’s not all about you. It’s about your team and other people.’ The girls help out with the youth programs and the camps in the spring. That’s where coaching becomes so rewarding, is seeing that throughout all of these years.”

Egle, who coached on the JV stage in Spencer for eight years, took over the Columbus volleyball program in 2013.

Her method bought fast outcomes, with an look within the Regional Final, adopted by one other in 2015.

The Dons then made back-to-back Sectional semifinal appearances in 2016 and 2017, and once more in 2019 and 2020.

In 2021, Columbus made all of it the best way to the Sectional championship match, dropping to Laona/Wabeno, 3-1.

Then got here 2022, when the Dons went on a magical run, dropping simply 4 matches going right into a Regional Final with Assumption.

The Royals shocked No.1 Columbus, successful 3-2.

“It turned into a mental game right at the end,” Egle recalled. “As a team and as a coach, we learned a lot that year. You learn more from your losses than your wins.”

The following season, the Dons have been as soon as once more ranked No. 1 going into postseason competitors, after simply 5 losses all yr.

“Then we go over to that Sectional Final (at Cashton) and we see a player that intimidated us and it became another mental game. And again, we learned from that,” mentioned Egle.

The returning gamers had made their minds up in 2024 – no extra psychological errors.

“The seniors had to leave, but the younger girls learned from it,” Egle advised us. “They were like, ‘We are not losing on a mental game.’ So, we do mental training, but we really focus more on being even closer as a team. How do we get closer as a team? How do we trust one another more? That was really a big success in our season last year.”

The Dons have been simply 6-6 after the primary week of the 2024 season and 14-13 by the month of September.

Then they rallied, successful seven straight to begin October, earlier than dropping two in a row, to shut out the common season 21-15 heading into Regional competitors.
“It wasn’t our best record last year, but our losses were little blessings in disguise. Through the losses, it humbles you and you learn from it and you become closer when you lose than when you win. And we had injuries throughout the season and we had these ups and downs. But, instead of being upset about them, the girls got together and we grew from those and stayed calm.”

The technique labored and the Dons earned their first journey to the WIAA State Volleyball Tournament on the Resch Center in Green Bay.

After a state semifinal win over Wausau Newman, which had knocked Columbus out of the postseason in 2013 and 2015-19, the Dons misplaced the Div. 5 state last to Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran, 3-1.

Now, Columbus will attempt to make it again to the Resch Center — this time in Div. 4.

“We are focusing on our defense, and to be the team that never gives up, that keeps popping that ball up” mentioned Egle. “So, we’re working on our verticals, we’re working on never giving up and making good plays and running a super fast offense to keep them guessing. We have great hitters and we can set anyone on the court.”

The Dons have six gamers coming back from final yr’s squad. They are Shelby Spata, Alayna Egle, Chayse Blenker, Delia Trader, Sophie Wilczek and Abby Kibbel. Columbus can also be getting taking part in time from two freshmen — Cardyn

Blenker and Kenly Hilgemann.

Izzy Holz is filling the void left by Gracie Wilczek.

The Columbus roster additionally consists of Christina Nemitz, Olivia Becerra and Maddie Bernick.

Egle’s teaching assistants are Gerald Seydel, Sam Moeller and Whitley Behm.