Year of the Miner

Audrey Warrick and Maelee Pilant celebrate a point in a home game with Sullivan.

Nate’s Notes

This year is shaping up to be one of the best years ever for Linton sports and this group of girls who play volleyball is a big reason why.

Even if they don’t win the girls would have gone the furthest of any Linton volleyball team in program history just by showing up to the Jasper Semi-state Saturday.

You might think it’s just about sports but that would be a mistake. The volleyball team is full of girls who are among the best in the school for academics. All six seniors in Ally Brownfield, Cassi Goodman, Ellie Jobe, Kylie Cooksey, Maggie Lower and Neely Brown were all honored this week for academics. They all have a grade point average of at least 3.5. That’s not easy to do considering these girls are involved in school with other clubs, other sports, other jobs and internships. Simply put, their schedules are a loaded slate yet they pull through.

The baseball team won its first regional in June and the volleyball team added its first regional last weekend. Both teams did so with the adversity of losing a Division-I player the year before to graduation. The volleyball team, like baseball, grew closer together without their superstar. A great example is Maggie Lower. She was pulled out of the rotation so sophomore Taryn Thuis and her height and size could make a bigger impact Saturday at the net. It worked, as Lower helped prepare Thuis for the challenge instead of complaining. That does not happen on most teams.

I hope Linton residents who do not really follow volleyball can quickly embrace this team in Jasper Saturday. These girls are fun because they are having fun in games and in practice. Again, that is not the situation for every team across our state. Fun is what fans will have if they make the trip to Jasper.

Nathan Pace is the Sports Editor of the Greene County Daily World and can be reached at npace@gcdailyworld.com. His “Low Budget Sports Show” airs weekly on Facebook Live.