by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
As head volleyball coach at Kansas City Kansas Community College, Mary Bruno has never been one to back away from tough foes.
“You only get better playing better teams,” Bruno said. “It’s the only way you can continue to improve.”
That was never more evident than this year. Of the 15 losses in a 19-15 season, all but one were to teams that were either ranked in the Top 20 nationally at the time or at one point during the season. Two of the losses were to Division I powers, No. ranked Iowa Western and Indian Hills, along with Jayhawk champion Coffeyville.
On the plus side, there were wins over ranked teams including Johnson County, which was No. 3 in the NJCAA preseason poll; Des Moines Area, Northeast, Iowa Central, Highland and Monroe, a Division I team. The Blue Devils also finished 4-0 in the “Battle of the Dells” tournament in Wisconsin and were 3-1 in the Pasco Hernando tournament in Florida.
Their play earned three Blue Devils post-season honors. Sophomore libero Kimberly Martinez was named to the All-District N first team and All-Jayhawk East second team. Also, sophomores Brianna Bonner and Alexis Harrell were All-District second team selections and Bonner All-Jayhawk honorable mention.
“We were 11-2 coming into the Hesston game and lost our starting outside hitter, Katie Heeter, for the season with an ACL tear,” Bruno said. Shortly thereafter, the Blue Devils also lost Heeter’s successor, Amanda Modesto, for several games with a sprained ankle.
“I was very proud of the way this team fought against adversity and injuries,” Bruno said. “They never quit. While it was not how we wanted the season to finish, we had a great group of hard-working kids in our gym who did not know how to quit.”
The Blue Devils indeed went right down to the final play, losing the final set of the Region VI playoffs to Neosho County 31-29.