By Mike Courson The Lady Oilers are

no stranger to success. The 2014 basketball team went unbeaten and won a Class 2A state title. A perfect record is even more impressive on the vol-leyball court, but last year, the Lady Oilers got close, posting a 40-3 record and finishing third at the Class 2A state tournament. Last winter, many of the same girls followed with another basketball title, losing just one game in the process.

Suffice it to say, ex-pectations remain high at Central Plains heading into the 2015 volleyball season. Coach Kimberly Rolfs returns for a second season and brings a 167-73 career record to the table. Last year, she helped the Oilers become the Kansas Volley-ball Association Class 2A Program of the Year.

“After having an excit-ing season last year and just falling short of playing in the state championship game, I would say the team is extremely excited to get started and working towards getting back to state,” Rolfs said.

Rolfs will again have a loaded roster in 2015 with five returning starters, including two All-Staters. Taylor Rolfs, a 5-foot-11 senior, was one of those All-Staters. She paced last year’s team with five kills per set and also led the squad in digs and solo blocks. She finished third on the team in assists. She was a unanimous First-Team All-Central Prairie League selection and was the Hutchinson News Area Player of the Year.

Junior Cassidy Crites was an All-State honor-able mention last year as a sophomore. She finished first on the team in block assists, second on the team in assists, and third on the team in kills.

At 5-foot-6, senior Reagan Phelan has been a mainstay of Central Plains success over the past three seasons. She brings her athleticism and quickness back to the volleyball courts after leading the Oilers in assists and service aces last season en route to an All-CPL honorable mention. “Reagan has worked hard this summer in improving her attacking,” said Coach Rolfs. “She will make our

team much harder to beat with her ability to attack the ball.”

That trio is joined by 5-foot-8 junior Kylee Kasselman. She finished second on the team in kills last year and earned sec-ond-team league honors. “Kylee worked extremely hard in the off season to improve her game,” Rolfs said. “She is a very strong hitter and skilled in many other areas.”

Rolfs expects big things out of sophomore Taylor Oeser in the libro spot. “Taylor started her freshman year and was a major asset to our success last year,” she said. “Her ability to read and react to volleyballs you just don’t see in young players. I’m very excited to have such a great player and kid on our squad.”

All-in-all, Rolfs is pleased with her returning roster though it is always tough to replace key seniors. “(Replacing) Abby Stueder and Julie Demel

will be a tough job,” she said. “Junior Chelsea Bieberle has proved this summer to fill one of those roles. The girls have worked extremely hard this summer to get back to Emporia to finish some unfinished business.”

Central Plains had suc-cess down the line, losing only to Republic County prior to entering the state tournament. The girls won tournaments in Russell and Hoisington, and also brought home league and

sub-state championship trophies.

Rolfs is assisted by Lisa Crites and Brittany Kratzer.

Friday, august 28, 2015 2015 Fall sports preview

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Winning ways: more high expecations for Lady Oilers

Lady Oiler senior Taylor Rolfs (14) retuns as one of the state’s top players. (photo by Mike Courson)

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2015 Central Plains Lady Oilers

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Central Plains volleyball 2015Sept. 3 @Natoma Quad.Sept. 12 @Ellsworth Tourn.Sept. 19 @Russell Tourn.Sept. 22 @LaCrosse Tri.Sept. 26 @Hoisington Trn.Sept. 29 @Kinsley Tri.Oct. 6 HOMEOct. 8 @Ellsworth Tri.Oct. 13 @St. John Tri.Oct. 17 CPL@EllinwoodOct. 20 HOME QUADOct. 24 Sub-stateOct. 30-31 State

2015 Lady OIler tennis team, back row from left: Haylee Chamberlain, Hannah Beran, Janae Ryan, Keeley Hipp, and Mikayla Menges. Front row: seniors Kylee Girard and Kaylyn Oberle. (photo by Mike Courson)

By Mike CoursonIt finally happened.

Breanna Schartz has been a mainstay for the Central Plains tennis team. Last year, she medaled at state and helped the team to a third-place finish before graduating in May. With Schartz gone, Coach Gary Bittner will do some moving around but still have plenty of power left in his lineup.

“I’m working with some tremendous play-ers that are a lot of fun to be around,” Bittner said. “They have a very nice work ethic and should be

very fun for our specta-tors to watch.”

Along with Schartz, McKenna Hammeke also graduated after compet-ing as a doubles player at state last year. That leaves two spots open for the 2015 team.

Leading the charge will be the juniors double team of Keeley Hipp and Janae Ryan. They placed fifth at the state tourna-ment last year and could be a giant force with four of the eight players on the top-four teams at state

Lady Oilers return threestate qualifiers