Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Regina hasn’t played at the state volleyball tournament since 2013.

The seniors that helped Regina snap its state tournament drought were in eighth grade the last time the Regals reached the state’s biggest stage.

Despite those facts No. 11 Regina (28-8) enters its state quarterfinal contest with second-ranked Western Christian (37-6) on Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids loaded with state tournament experience.

Regina boasts a roster full of players that have competed at state events in everything from soccer to softball.

That success in other sports is a big reason those athletes can now add volleyball to the list of state tournaments they have competed in while wearing a Regina uniform.

“The amount of basketball and soccer and track and softball players we have is nuts, I don’t think we have anybody that plays just one sport,” first-year Regina head coach Jordyn Akers said. “All of those kids have had success in other sports and that experience has been huge for us.”

Since the calendar flipped to 2017 Regina has appeared in the state tournament in basketball, soccer and softball.

Many of the same individual that were instrumental in Regina reaching the semifinals in the state basketball tournament and winning a second straight softball title have played key roles in the Regals’ return to state volleyball.

“I think it’s really important to have those multi-sport athletes at a school like this,” Regina junior Alex Wiese said. “We have a lot of athletes that can do a lot of things and have had a lot of success in different sports.”

Wiese lead Regina with 359 kills in her first season playing varsity volleyball at Regina and was a starter and key contributor on the basketball team that reached the state semifinals last March.

Alexa Lehman, a senior with 128 kills this season, was a key reserve on the state semifinal basketball team and a member of the state qualifying soccer squad.

Senior setter Emily Bonnett leads Regina with 803 assists and has been a starter on Regina’s back-to-back state title softball teams.

“The experience from other sports is very important because we know how to adapt to a situation,” Bonnett said. “We’ve been through those close games and those tense moments and we know how to handle them.”

Overall 12 of the 14 players on the Regina roster have been a member of a state tournament qualifying team in another sport in the last 12 months.

“Especially at a small school you have to have those kids that play multiple sports, they have to be able to do multiple things,” Akers said. “It’s huge, it keeps them in shape all year and pushes them to their best.”

The experience of past state tournaments came in handy for Regina in last week’s regional final.

Playing in the first regional final of their careers the Regals turned in the most complete effort of the season in a sweep of No. 12 Wilton.

How did Bonnett explain the Regals playing their best match of the season in the biggest moment?

Easy, they’d done it before.

Not on a volleyball court but on a softball diamond or a basketball court or a soccer field.

“I’ve been in that situation in softball over and over again so I was still nervous but I knew how to handle the situation,” Bonnett said. “Just having that feeling before, that helps a lot.”

Regina hopes to continue to use that experience on Wednesday at the state tournament.

The venue and specific sport will all be new but Wiese says the experience won’t be.

“I think it makes it easier playing at other state events,” Wiese said. “You’ve already been there you’ve done it before you know what it’s like and it helps you along with the process.”