Photo courtesy of Westbrook-Walnut Grove yearbook staff. Westbrook-Walnut Grove head coach Meghann Westover coaches her team from the sidelines during the Section 3A tournament at Southwest Minnesota State University’s R/A Facility in Marshall. Westover oversaw the team making its first-ever run to the section championship match and earned the Independent’s selection for Coach of the Year.

WESTBROOK — In 2024, the Westbrook-Walnut Grove girls volleyball team made history. The Chargers earned their second consecutive 20-win season to enter the section tournament as the No. 2 seed and defeated Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in the 3A South championship to advance to the section championship match for the first time in program history. At the helm of the Chargers was head coach Meghann Westover, our 2024 Coach of the Year.

“I think [the players] did everything that we were hoping to do and more,” Westover said of her team’s performance on the year. “They stepped up, they had fun, they played big and they had huge dreams and they didn’t stop. That was huge for the team this year.”

While the Chargers reached new heights in the 2024 season, they first made the leap from solid to contender last season. The Chargers had gone 13-12 in 2022 before taking their game to the next level with a 22-4 campaign in 2023. They started the season strong with a 12-match win streak. Still, their season ended in their second postseason match with a five-set loss to Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda in the section quarterfinals.

The Chargers lost chunks of its senior leadership from the previous season when Addeson Jenniges, Abby Wiggins, Ella Knakmuhs and Macie Christians graduated. Still, This season’s seniors — Natalie Wahl, Riley Park, Olivia Locke, Faith Marsh, and Anna Byers — were up to the task of bringing that same energy.

“I think it was the all-go, no-quit leadership of our seniors [that helped propel our deep postseason run],” Westover said. “We lost really important girls last year, so we were just hoping to come in and play well and win a lot of games. But when those girls saw what we were capable of, they never stopped pushing each other or the rest of the team. So a lot of it’s attributed to those five seniors.”

Also stepping up for the Chargers was sophomore Hadley Jenniges. Looking to fill the shoes of her older sister, Jenniges was a natural from the start. Westover intended to start the year with a 6-2 rotation but shifted to a 5-1 for the remainder of the season after seeing Jenniges play with the varsity.

“We decided we could make a few more starts elsewhere and Jenniges stepped in, she ran with it, and she really did a great job,” Westover said. After recording two set assists as a freshman, Jenniges recorded an area-leading 715 as a sophomore. 

In the back row, Locke also made major strides, Westover noted. In Locke’s sophomore and junior seasons, Locke recorded a combined 116 digs. Taking over the libero role as a senior, however, she flourished with 301 digs to trail only Wahl and Carlie Ross, an Independent All-Area first-teamer and honorable mention.

“She really just wanted to play good back-row volleyball. When I asked for improvements, she made them and never looked back. It was really awesome just to watch,” Westover said of Locke. 

While the Chargers started last season strong, they started to really find their stride after a four-set loss to Southwest Minnesota Christia a few weeks into the season, prompting them into necessary changes.

“We lost that game running our six-two and my assistant Rusty [Jackels] and I sat down and we looked at them and said, ‘We’re doing fine, we’re playing well, but I think we could be better,'” Westover said.

“The team had a little bit better connection with Hadley than they did with my other setter. Not that she wasn’t doing a great job, she was, but we just kind of looked at it and went, ‘I think we can play a higher level ball if we run in a five-one.'”

Following the shift, WWG rattled off nine consecutive wins. Among the victories in the stretch were a four-set win over HLOF in the teams’ first time meeting since the previous postseason and a sweep of then-No. 1 Russell-Tyler-Ruthton.

“I think [the sweep of RTR] surprised a lot of people. We certainly didn’t expect to do it in three, but after that, we knew what was possible,” Westover said. “We were going to be able to compete with any level team that we came up against and we just ran with it.”

While the Chargers weren’t able to take down top-seeded Minneota in the section championship match, falling in four sets, it doesn’t take away from the team’s incredible run. They went 23-5 and reached a stage no WWG team had reached before.

“[Watching the team, I] felt a lot of pride. Just really thankful that they showed all of southwest Minnesota what they’ve been capable of and that it came to fruition,” Westover said. “I couldn’t be more proud of not only how they played, but how they held themselves there. They’re a very, very smart group of girls. I mean, we’re an All-State Academic gold team as well as being successful in playing, so they were a joy to coach. I’m glad it went as far as we knew we could.”

While the team reached new heights on the court, this season was about more than that for WWG. Westover put an emphasis on keeping the fun in high school volleyball and keeping academics as a priority. 

“Getting to that section championship game is going to be a high point, but also the practices and everything else, the girls made it so fun. They were a goofy group of seniors that were leading us and they wanted to have fun as well as play really high-level ball,” Westover said. “They made sure that happened. We had fun in practices, we played games, we pushed hard, but we also don’t want to lose sight of the fact that it is high school volleyball. If you’re not having fun, we’re not doing it right.”