Nothing to do with luck

Osage punches seventh straight state volleyball ticket

By Kristi Nixon

OSAGE — When it comes to gaining seven straight state volleyball tournament trips, Osage knows the key isn’t luck, but hard work.

The players and even head coaches have changed during that span but the off-season efforts haven’t.

And, after a 25-14, 25-20, 25-16 sweep of Dubuque Wahlert, asking players and head coach Bryan Tabbert what it has taken, the response was universal.

“I think it’s our work ethic,” said senior hitter Claudia Aschenbrenner, who tallied a match-high 16 kills. “Every day in practice we go in and we’re ready to work and move on. We don’t want to stay in the same spot, be stagnant. We never have been. It helps that me and Jaden have been on the team, we are going to treat you all the same whether you are a freshman or sophomores or juniors. Knowing we push each other is really nice.”

Francis added, “Our work ethic, however many years we’ve been to state now, seven, this being my fourth year, it’s exciting and motivating just to keep the program going for a trip to state.”

Tabbert pointed out the fact that members of the team competes in club volleyball during the summer as did sophomore hitter Jenna Scharper.

“All of the girls have background experience in volleyball,” Scharper said. “We’ve all been doing club, all of us have been doing something in season, too.”

Tabbert had just arrived as an assistant coach when the streak began.

“The streak started with Andie Olson when I first got here and I was an assistant coach then,” Tabbert said. “As a coach, you just want to keep those streaks alive. Last year, our theme was reload because we win a state championship, lose three first team all-staters, start asking questions. We had to prove ourselves last year, we did that. Lose a couple of D1 players in Meredith and Kaebre, and another college athlete in Addy Grimm.

“We want to reach the level of a program where no one asks, ‘what are you going to do next year?’ We’re on the right path.”

The Green Devils will face second-ranked Davenport Assumption, a rematch of the 2020 semifinal in which they outlasted the Knights, 3-1.

“It’s crazy,” Aschenbrenner said. “From my freshman year to my senior year all of the teams have been different. All of these teams have been different and the fact that we can persevere and push through though the regular and post-season is just amazing.”

The story will be updated and appear in the Nov. 3 print and online editions of the Enterprise Journal.