By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The Southeast of Saline volleyball season met a bittersweet end in this year’s sub-state semifinals, as the Lady Trojans fell in a grueling 3-setter to the Council Grove Lady Braves.
SES got off to a roaring start in the quarterfinals, steamrolling Nickerson in straight sets 25-7 and 25-18 to advance to the second round.
“We dominated that first set against [Nickerson] and I just remember thinking ‘here we go, let’s do this,” Lady Trojan head coach Ashley Gilpin said.
On the other side of the bracket, the 2-seeded Lady Braves were given all they could handle by a heavy underdog in Lyons, who took them to 26 points in the opening set.
Council Grove brushed that off quickly and finished the Lions in a quick second set before turning their attention to Southeast.
The Lady Braves would win an extended opener 26-24 but the SES remained resilient and battled back to take the second set 25-23, before succumbing to the high-pressure Braves attack in a 25-22 finale.
“We watched Council Grove struggle a bit with Lyons but we knew they had a good record,” Gilpin said. “We didn’t take them lightly but we were off our game a little bit and they had us on our heels more than we’re used to.”
The SES season would come to a close at 22-14 while the Braves advanced to the final and were promptly put down by Smoky Valley in straight sets.
Despite not punching a ticket to state, the Lady Trojans have a lot to hang their hats on after a stellar 2022 campaign, including their first winning season under fourth-year head coach Ashley Gilpin.
“I’m proud of our girls and I think we’re all taking positivity and growth away from this season,” she said. “We made some headway and I don’t see us walking into a gym next year and having anyone dismiss us, I think we earned some respect this season.”
This campaign solidified Southeast as a program that can go toe to toe with some of the best teams in the state as the Lady Trojans knocked off #1 Little River (1A), #3 Ellinwood (2A), #3 Hanover (1A), and #3 Beloit (3A) throughout the course of the season.
“We’ve definitely continued to build our culture and I think a lot of the success we had this year will carry into the next,” Gilpin said. “It was a little up and down but I think we learned some great lessons throughout the downs. We still have work to do but we’re in a much better place than we were this time last year.”
SES will graduate seniors Chase Gilpin, Kyler Boley, Reagan Goetz, Brynn Hawbaker, and Ashlynd Merrill in the offseason but will retain a great core of talent to rebuild around in 2023.