While the 2018 Wauneta-Palisade volleyball season had some ups and downs, the youthful team finished with a winning record.
    Junior Michaela Dukes, sophomores Payton Yearous, Haylee Sandman, and Maycee Wheeler and freshman Alexa Sandman played all 68 sets for WP. Senior Monique Gooden missed two sets early in the season due to injury.
    Gooden has been a mainstay in the Broncos’ rotation since her sophomore year.
    “We are really going to miss Monique next year,” WP Head Coach Terra Higgins said. “She really came on the second half of the season with her jump serve and hitting, and she has always been a quick, scrappy player that can get a hand on anything defensively.”
    Senior Dakota Ingold played libero for the Broncos.
    “Dakota did an excellent job stepping onto the floor and embracing a new roll this year as libero,” Higgins said. “She is such a coachable player that she could play every single position on the floor. We are also really going to miss her sense of humor!”
    Dukes now has her third year starting under her belt, while H. Sandman and Yearous have started for two years.
    Wheeler and A. Sandman stepped into starting roles this season.
    “I am really proud of all of our varsity girls, for the hard work and determination that they showed with at practice each and every day,” said Higgins.
    H. Sandman led the team with 263 kills. Gooden was second on the team with 79 kills and Yearous totaled 73.
    Gooden finished with a team-high 83 aces. H. Sandman totaled 52.

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