Cyclones battle through challenging 2026 volleyball season
HARLAN - The Harlan Community Cyclones volleyball team battled through a challenging 2026 schedule, showing growth and improvement throughout the season while gaining valuable experience against a competitive slate of opponents.
HCHS finished its campaign in the Class 3A Region 4 quarterfinals, but head coach Amber Brown said the development of the group from the beginning to the end of the season was what stood out most.
“It wasn’t the easiest season in the world. We battled, we had some adversity, but I think the growth from match one to match 31 is probably the biggest imprint this season will leave on me and hopefully the athletes as well,” Brown said.
“The amount of growth that can happen in 31 matches and in nine weeks is huge.”
HCHS opened the season at the ADM Volleyball Quad, facing ADM, Council Bluffs Lincoln and Greene County.
The Cyclones continued tournament play at their home tournament, taking on IKM-Manning, Missouri Valley, St. Albert and Treynor.
After opening the season with several tough matchups, HCHS picked up its first victory at the Glenwood Tournament, defeating Le Mars in three sets, 21-17, 17-21 and 15-11.
The Cyclones followed that performance with a convincing three-set victory over Denison-Schleswig, winning 25-23, 25-17 and 25-4.
The Cyclones strongest tournament performance came at the Southwest Valley Tournament, where the Cyclones put together an impressive run to claim the tournament championship.
HCHS opened with a 2-0 victory over AHSTW before defeating Lenox 2-0 and CAM 2-1.
The Cyclones then defeated Clarke Community 2-0 in the semifinals before meeting AHSTW again in the championship match.
HCHS completed the tournament sweep with another 2-0 victory, winning 21-18 and 21-17.
The Cyclones also recorded a three-set victory over Creston, winning all three sets by identical 25-22 scores.
HCHS faced a difficult schedule throughout the remainder of the season, including matchups against Atlantic, Glenwood, Kuemper Catholic and Carroll. The Cyclones wrapped up their season against OABCIG in the Class 3A Region 4 quarterfinals, falling in four sets despite taking the third set 27-25.
Offensively, senior Aubree Wegner led the Cyclones with 155 kills, followed by senior Kenzley Bruck with 115 and senior Carleigh Goshorn with 83.
Senior Taylor Heese paced the team with 277 assists, while junior Brylie Kenkel added 159 assists.
Defensively, senior Avery Manz led HCHS with 169 digs, followed by Heese with 168 and junior Vailen Vaughan with 165.
Goshorn led the Cyclones with 31 total blocks, while Bruck contributed 26.
From the service line, Heese led the team with 30 aces, followed by Manz with 26 and Kenkel with 25. HCHS finished with 152 service aces as a team and an 87.4% serving efficiency.
The Cyclones will say goodbye to nine seniors following the conclusion of the season, including Suzy Kenkel, Avery Manz, Bristol Loudy, Maddison Hansen, Kenzley Bruck, Camryn Goshorn, Aubree Wegner, Carleigh Goshorn and Taylor Heese.
Despite losing a large senior class, Brown believes the Cyclones have a strong foundation in place, with several returning players ready to take on expanded roles next season.
“We do have a couple core starters coming back, but I think those girls that are coming in and going to step into varsity next year, those upperclassmen and those seniors are going to leave an increased volleyball IQ,” Brown said.
Brown said the returning players have made significant strides in their understanding of the game over the past two seasons, particularly when it comes to setting and attacking.
“The girls have grown so much in the last two years that I’ve had them as far as setting the ball and where to set the ball and being aggressive on swings,” Brown said.
“I think this group is going to continue to get smarter and smarter and smarter, and I think this group is just the start of that.”
