By Ken Hansard

Like many kids who develop a love of sports, Mia Lenker, an outside hitter and defensive specialist for the Webb City High volleyball team, grew up around the game, “My older sister, Ally, played all through school, so I grew up going to her games and club tournaments. I loved that she was passionate about the game, and I wanted to grow up and be just like her.  And, in all honesty, I still do.”

Fast forward to the present, where Mia just finished an impressive career with the Cardinals that saw her and her teammates make deep quarterfinal runs at state the past two seasons.  Now, Mia is the one who all the younger girls are looking to when they want to see how it’s done, “As a senior, I knew that it was my responsibility to hold my teammates to a very high standard on and off the court. I knew from the beginning of the season that I was going to have to go all out every day to set an example for my younger teammates.”

Every team has its own unique challenges to deal with, and this year’s squad was no exception, “We were a pretty small team with the exception of two players; therefore, some of our front row players had to learn to make adjustments, especially when playing big teams with bigger hitters. Some teams hit over us, but our defense was disciplined and worked hard to pick those balls up.” 

Lenker also knows that getting each player to achieve her role and then, as a unit, achieving that level of discipline, can come with its own challenges, “Each season, players have to learn to adjust to new personalities on the court.  We had to learn to trust at all times that each player would fill their given role.”

Last year, as a junior playing for a Cardinals’ team that finished the season 27-8 with a loss in the state quarterfinal game to Jeff City, Lenker ranked fourth in the state for number of aces.  She knew that, if she and her teammates wanted to duplicate that success – or even surpass it – that she would have to be up to that task again, “Coach Lawrence always told us that we will not be able to keep up with tough teams if we cannot serve and pass well, so I feel that this was a positive tribute to my team.”

That positive impact resulted in a 28-9-1 overall record, once again losing in the state quarterfinal game against rival Jeff City. “We spent each practice and game during the season in preparation for post-season play. We knew that we were going to see some tough teams come districts. We knew we would most likely end up across the net from Jeff City, and we were eager for that rematch.” 

While Lenker and the Cardinals would obviously have liked to have made an even deeper run, Lenker’s success this season can be measured in other ways, like the things that she learned along the way and the impact she has had on her teammates and on future generations of Cardinals’ players, “Coming into the season, I just really looked forward to getting to play with my best friends. I love every single one of my teammates, and the bond I had with them on the court was truly amazing. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.” 

Following graduation in May, Mia plans to attend MSSU after high school to be a dental hygienist.