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Experience and leadership are undeniably vital attributes when it comes to success, but sometimes raw talent can outweigh them both.

Casie Baer, a sophomore setter from Canby, truly emerged throughout the season to lead the area with 847 set assists and play a vital part in the Lancers' impressive 30-2 run, thus making her this year's Independent Player of the Year.

"The setter is kind of the unsung hero in a lot of ways," said Canby head coach Amy Wagner. "Casie does a really good job playing defense, she moves the ball really well on our offense and she's a team player. She's always a positive kid."

Baer has been a starter since her eighth-grade year, and despite not being able to drive herself to practice each day, her ability on the court exceeds her 15-year-old age.

"We still give her a bad time because she still can't drive by herself. She is still not 16 years old," Wagner said. "But for her age and the amount of maturity she has, she's always been a team player."

The road to success hasn't been easy for Baer or the Lancers. When she started for the varsity squad in 2007, the Lancers finished the season 5-20 and were immediately ousted from the Section 3A playoffs by Wabasso in the opening round.

But with another year of experience and another year to develop with the team under her belt, Baer helped the Lancers to a 12-7 season in 2008.

"We've played JO (Junior Olympic) volleyball together, we played basketball together," said Baer. "The chemistry out there is phenomenal. It's really fun being out there with those girls."

The camaraderie helped the Lancers to a much-improved 2008 season, but when the playoffs came around, Canby's run was again short-lived. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, who eventually went on to lose to Minneota in the Section 3A-North championship match, defeated the Lancers 3-2 to end their season once again without a playoff win.

But in the offseason, Baer and the Lancers' drive to succeed only grew. Baer played on the Southwest Minnesota Juniors team, where the team placed fifth at nationals down in Miami (Fla.).

"That was a great experience for her," Wagner said. "She didn't set, she played defense. That was great because it really increased her defensive skills."

The switch helped develop Baer as an all-around player, and come the end of the year, she was one of the top defensive players for the Lancers.

"She was really instrumental in helping us speed up our offense, but defensively she touches balls that she never touched before," Wagner said. "Her touch on the ball is much better and she has a lot of control."

Baer's defensive improvement became apparent early in the season when she dug up seven balls in the second match of the season against Lac qui Parle Valley.

Her performance helped Canby sweep its second straight match of the season and was only the beginning of what went on to become a 21-0 run to start the season.

"We've had the same girls for the past couple years now, and we all clicked really well together, so we figured that we would do pretty well," said Baer. "We just worked as hard as we could."

In that run, Canby began the season with seven straight sweeps, claimed the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton Invitational title and defeated its biggest Camden Conference rival - the No. 2 ranked Minneota Vikings.

"We knew that Minneota was a very good team," Baer said. "We wanted to prove that we can stick with them."

Not only did the Lancers stick with the mighty Vikings, but defeated them 3-2 in Minneota.

"It helped us realize that we can do it," said Baer. "When we put our minds to it, we can beat anybody that we want."

The Lancers took the upper hand in the Camden Conference and eventually went on to win the conference championship with a sweep over Lakeview in late October.

"At that first day of practice, we had these journals, and we wrote in them," Baer said. "We went around the room and we asked, 'What do we want out of this year?' And (winning a conference championship) was one of our goals."

Canby earned the No. 1 seed in the Section 3A-North tournament and the matchup all were awaiting finally came - a rematch of Canby and Minneota.

"It was pretty intense," said Baer. "Our community was behind us 100 percent and that's what was amazing."

Minneota went on to defeat Canby and finish second in the state tournament, but Baer and all but three Lancers will be back for another year to continue the ongoing rivalry between the Lancers and Vikings.

"We're looking forward to (next year)," said Baer. "We've got some younger girls that I know can step up. It will be fun."