When Stephany Dueker looks at her five seniors, she thinks about the experience on her Windsor volleyball team.
Then she looks at the six underclassmen and shakes her head about the Owls’ youth.
“All of my seniors are having good years,” Dueker said of Abby Bailey, Kennedy Detmer, Taylor Duncan, Ally Moore and Alyssa Vaughn. “My sophomores (Bailey Benoist, Alayna Green and Madison Heaghney), are playing well and my freshmen (Grace Lowery, Lexi Menne and Madison Williams) have been playing well from the start.
“When I think about our team, I think about it being young. I looked at the other half of my lineup and I have five seniors who’ve been around for four years.”
After a rough five days last month when Windsor lost three times to Jefferson County Activities Association large-schools rival Festus (only one loss counted in conference standings), the Owls (8-7-3) responded by winning four matches between Sept. 25 and Oct. 3. Windsor won all of the matches in two sets.
“I’m pretty pleased with our progress,” Dueker said. “We have a lot of unfulfilled potential and it’s my job to point it out. I’m pleased with how we’re growing as people as much as we are on the court as a team.”
The Owls didn’t play the Tigers in the Class 3 District 2 tournament last year. Windsor lost in two games to Park Hills Central in the semifinals, while Festus beat the Rebels and made it to the state quarterfinals. The Owls have been plucked out of District 2 this fall and were moved to District 3 with Affton, Bayless, Bishop DuBourg, Lutheran South, Notre Dame St. Louis and Roosevelt.
At first Dueker resisted talking about losing three times this year to Festus, then she opened up.
“They’re quite a bit bigger than us,” she said. “We struggled with their block. Even their freshman team is big. I don’t have any height from seventh through 12th grade. So we have to be smart, jump and play good defense. I hope if we see them later and maybe we can sneak up on them.”
Windsor’s schedule has been a gauntlet of 2018 district champions and larger schools. The Owls beat Pattonville (Class 4 district champion last year) in the third-place game of the North County Invitational in September. They lost 25-23, 25-23 to Perryville, which is in first place in the conference.
“I hope we’re playing who we need to play to progress,” Dueker said.
Duncan, who was on the conference large-schools first team last year and Moore (second team) are closing in on career milestones in assists, digs and serve-receptions. Moore has played libero for four years and Duncan, the setter for four seasons, was just cleared to play this season after having knee surgery in the offseason. Moore has 1,394 digs, 1,358 serve-receptions and 98 aces in her career, while Duncan has 694 digs, 298 kills and 126 aces.
“She’s a sparkplug. She’s intense and is a different kid this year,” Dueker said of Moore. “As a freshman, she had talent but not the mental focus to go with it. This is going to be her best year. She was in our open gyms this summer with a whole different attitude. She’s getting interest from a lot of different colleges.
“She’s all over the place and when she makes some digs, I say, ‘How did you get that?’ She uses left hand, right hand, both hands and it’s just like, ‘Wow.’ She’s working on a lot of things. In the past, she would dwell on mistakes and she’s not that player anymore.”
Duncan had 345 assists last year and Dueker said Duncan is still working to get her speed back.
“She’s still Taylor. She’s trying to figure out how to get around her knee brace,” Dueker said.
Vaughn has transitioned from the outside to the middle. Bailey is Windsor’s best blocker and makes few mistakes in the front row.
“She’s been serving and playing defense like nobody’s business,” Dueker said.
Lately, the Owls have been passing well, minimizing their offensive mistakes and capitalizing on the things they do well. Dueker said the defense has been spectacular.
“My front row plays good defense, as do my defensive specialists,” she said. “Kennedy Detmer has been playing really well.
“Our blocking mistakes are getting better. At the beginning of the year, it was a stuff-block or error, there was nothing in between. We don’t have a true middle because we’re so small. We’re working on our timing. It’s coming together a little bit.”