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Former Tonganoxie High standout ready for challenge of leading alma mater as head coach in unprecedented times

By Shawn Linenberger - | Sep 1, 2020

Shawn Linenberger

Tonganoxie High volleyball coach Sara Poje Schmidt sets the ball to one of her players during the first practice of the season Monday. The THS alum is in her first year as head coach of the program after serving as an assistant the last few years.

Sara Poje Schmidt is in her fifth year coaching volleyball at her alma mater.

Masks and all, this is quite the way to start year No. 5 — first year as head coach of the program during an unprecedented pandemic.

An assistant coach for the Tonganoxie High volleyball program the past four years, she coached club teams and ran camps before that.

She now takes over after fellow THS alum Chrissie Jeannin stepped down in the offseason.

Though there is plenty of uncertainty in the 2020 volleyball season, like whether pandemic restrictions will allow for a full season of competition and how the state tournament might look after that, Schmidt hopes to oversee a successful squad this season and beyond.

“Well it’s an honor,” Schmidt said about taking over the helm at her alma mater. “It’s not anything I thought I would ever do.

“But when i came back and it started happening, it was exciting. I have a lot of history with this volleyball program, and would love to get it back to being something the kids are excited about.”

Tonganoxie last advanced to state in 2016 when Tiffany Parker was head coach. That also was Schmidt’s first year on the Tonganoxie coaching staff. That marked the second of back-to-back state appearances for THS.

Fast forward to 2020 and Schmidt oversees a team ready to compete in a year that so far has seen the cancellation of spring sports at various levels and some already for fall at the high school level and more at the collegiate level.

Schmidt had 30 players show up for tryouts at midnight Aug. 17. The team opened the season as early as it could on the first day of preseason practice.

“We have fantastic leadership,” Schmidt said. “The kids are showing up, kids are excited to play, so there’s good energy.”

There also has been some strong senior leadership, according to Schmidt.

Seniors led some workouts and other activities in addition to some of the required summer workouts, such as KSHSAA’s mandatory stretch of conditioning workouts.

“That was in early June,” Schmidt recalled. “They were just doing all that on their own.

“It gave them an opportunity to get out and get to know each other without me there.”

Schmidt also got some extra instruction assistance at summer camp from a familiar face.

Chris Herron, who coached Schmidt in high school, returned this summer to help at camp. Herron left a successful career at THS to move to the college level. He coached at Benedictine College in Atchison before taking over at Washburn in Topeka.

“Camp was phenomenal,” Schmidt said. “We did our team camp through myself and the coaches and then Coach Herron came for two days and did two sessions a day.

“And the girls loved it. They ate it up.”

Schmidt, who graduated from THS in 2000, played at Neosho County Community College in Chanute. After playing for one of the top teams in the nation at the junior college level at the time, Schmidt went on to play NCAA Division I volleyball at Georgia Southern. While at NCCC, Poje earned the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference MVP award, along with all-region honors.

Assistant coaches this year are Kaelyn Thierolf and Franki Watson. Thierolf previously coached and taught at Fort Leavenworth’s Patton Middle School. She is starting her first year as sociology and world history teacher at THS and is in her second year coaching THS volleyball. Originally from Marion, Thierolf also was on the rowing team at the University of Kansas.

Watson, originally from Valley Falls, previously coached the freshman squad at Olathe South.

Schmidt continued to praise her squad for its dedication in the summer and into preseason practices.

She commended seniors Lexi Ziolo, Kiernyn Dale and Tessa Calovich for their leadership and work ethic.

“They’re holding underclassmen to a pretty high standard and I like it,” Schmidt said.

The new THS head coach also has been stressing the importance of putting in hard work and being ready for the unexpected daily.

“You come in the gym and practice like you have a match tomorrow every day,” she said. “We don’t know what it’s gonna look like.

“We have to put in 110 percent. That way, as soon as something shows up on the schedule as a definite, we’re ready to go.”

The varsity season is set to started Tuesday with a road match at De Soto, but the schedule could change at any moment this fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That’s probably part of it to for the kids,” Schmidt said. “We’re going to train hard and play every match like it’s our last match, because we don’t know. Their goal is to get on the court and play and continue it.”

And that means following some new regulations on the volleyball court, namely the wearing of masks.

“If you want a chance at this season, these are the rules we need to follow,” Schmidt said. “If you’re in there and not actively playing on the court, we’ve go to have them on. It’s not ideal, but it’s something we have to do if we want to play this game we love.”

Tonganoxie is on the road at 5 p.m. Thursday at Pleasant Ridge and again at 6:30 p.m. this coming Tuesday at Paola.

The team’s home opener is Sept. 15 against Piper.