Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Breaking news. The power ratings just dropped and your Mesa University Eagles for volleyball.
And welcome back to another episode of in the Nest, the official athletics podcast of Emmaus University.
I'm your co host, Matthew Tomlinson, joined today by our co host for the day, coach Hannah Richter. Hi, coach. How are you doing?
[00:00:26] Speaker B: I'm great.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: Doing good. Well, Shane is on the road traveling for enrollment and athletics. He's down in Tennessee at the national Christian Homeschool soccer championship tournament for this week. And so we have the privilege of coach Hannah joining us today.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: And you just got back from being on the road.
[00:00:41] Speaker A: Literally just got back from Minnesota for three days.
[00:00:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:00:44] Speaker A: So it's been a very traveling week, but let's jump right into it.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:00:49] Speaker A: What a volleyball season we've had this year. Coach Anna, we just had senior day on sad urdu.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: Don't make me think about it.
[00:00:56] Speaker A: I know it's a little bit emotional, but.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: A lot emotional, man, just tell us.
[00:01:00] Speaker A: So far, like, what a great season we've had so far.
[00:01:02] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. I'm not really sure how to put it into words, honestly, thinking two years ago, being owen 16 and flipping back.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: 16 wins this year.
[00:01:15] Speaker B: So, yeah, it's been really fun. It's a huge blessing.
Yeah. I wasn't sure where we were going to be at in year three, but this has surpassed my expectations by far. I love the group of girls that I got. Our coaching staff is amazing. We're having a ton of fun, even though we've had some hard moments, definitely emotionally and physically, a lot of sickness, a lot of things at home that the girls have been dealing with. But, you know, we're a tight knit group and we focus on Christ, and we're doing great.
[00:01:41] Speaker A: You're doing great. Yeah. And it's especially cool seeing how, like, you know, especially with the way the first weekend went and how that just kind of sometimes that might set the wave of how the season goes for the team. But the girls responded, at least from my outsider perspective, they responded very well. And, you know, since that day, I've gone 16 and two, which is pretty amazing of them to respond that way, especially with a young team, because our team is very young. But, yeah, like you said, the third season in the program and just the three C's that you build on and how this. We started season one with Christ at the center. It's the center of everything we do. But that was the main focus of that season last season. You know, the committed side of it was the big emphasis along with Christ, obviously, and this year, the focus has been on, for the most part, have been on competitive.
And, wow, it's really cool how you build that foundation and how the Lord really uses that to bless this team.
[00:02:37] Speaker B: Yeah. And, you know, it's like, in the essence of being competitive, you know, I think off the top, you're sitting going like, okay, well, competitive is just wins, losses. And we've really tried to stick away from that a little bit and just talk about, like, what does it mean to be competitive and, like, be a competitor, like, inherently, you know, how do we carry ourselves? How do we keep ourselves accountable? How do we keep our teammates accountable and things like that. How do we respect the other team when we're competing? Because at the end of the day, like, it's black and white. Someone's gonna win and someone's gonna lose.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: Right.
[00:03:04] Speaker B: And so how can we do that while still focusing on Christ, still focusing on being committed to him and our program values while we compete? And, yeah, just try and grow physically with the program. So, yeah, it's been a fun year. It's been really fun. It's nice not to lose every single game, that's for sure.
But, yeah, just trying to not think about that too much, not get big headed. And we've talked a lot about that, too. We're just really thankful because, yeah, they've persevered a lot. We've had a lot of fight. And, yeah, the first probably month was really, really tough, which you guys mentioned on the podcast, too. I did that, you know, for a reason. And thankfully, we're on the good side of that.
[00:03:41] Speaker A: Yep. So, yeah, and it's cool. Yeah. Cause coming into this week, girls are ranked 8th. The Power Ranger or the coaches poll came out on Monday, ranked 8th. Or Tuesday, yesterday or on Tuesday. Excuse me, ranked 8th. Again, the power ratings had not come out before we recorded the episode, so they should be out now when the episode drops. But excited to see how that lines up for the regional tournament. But, yeah, looking back, back at Saturday against Ozark, you know, Ozark, very gritty team, took a set off Manhattan, forced a five game set to faith, and they took that first set, so. Which. Cause they're a tough team. They really fought it out. A lot of out of system stuff. It seemed like that first set, but then the girls pulled it together. And one on senior night, two, as we talked about nine and, oh, at home this season, which we've never been undefeated at home this season. Yeah, they literally took PTN to heart this season. It was crazy, but, yeah. And then senior night, we got to honor our two seniors. Kind of the heart of our program. Emma Stanley and then Lauren Fessler. And so, man, they've had such a huge impact on this program. It's been incredible to see these last three and four years for them.
[00:04:49] Speaker B: Yeah, they've been through the gauntlet for sure. So, yeah, really thankful for them and their leadership.
We wouldn't be where we are without those two. And, yeah, you know, I basically tell all the girls, I know you guys have got to leave at some point. As long as you come back and bring me your babies, everything's fine. I can get over you guys leaving, you know, but, yeah, I mean, they just have such a great impact on everybody around them, so. We'll miss them.
[00:05:15] Speaker A: We will.
[00:05:15] Speaker B: We'll miss them a lot. Yeah.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: But, yeah, just like you said, it's very. It's just kind of surreal. Just like how they came in, in a sense. You could say they took a chance to.
[00:05:23] Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely they did.
[00:05:24] Speaker A: And after that, that first year, so Emma's second year, Lauren's first year with that Owen, 16. But then just seeing all the hard work they put in and just seeing how the Lord has blessed this team and how we've reaped the benefits of putting that hard work to be 16 and four, which is amazing.
[00:05:38] Speaker B: Yeah, it's very humbling as a coach to know that you have.
Yeah. Just players like that that are willing to trust you. And it's not just them, it's their families and their friends, because they're committing their time away from other things. Not only that they just want to do, but that they need to do. And so, yeah, they've really had my back, honestly, every step of the way.
Yeah. And I know they'll keep supporting us, so I don't make me talk about them for very much longer. Cause it just.
[00:06:06] Speaker A: We'll get you a Kleenex.
[00:06:08] Speaker B: I have one from helping Ruby blowers. Everybody has sick kids right now.
[00:06:11] Speaker A: Seriously. Everyone knows we do, too. But, yeah. Looking ahead to this upcoming weekend for volleyball, I mean, the big game. The big game Friday night, I'm really excited. This is going to determine the regular season conference champion. This is a banner game. A banner game. Also for soccer on Saturday, most likely, but especially for volleyball being in this position, we might host our first MCCC banner with the new logo on it in the gym, which would be amazing. What's the mindset going into this weekend?
[00:06:41] Speaker B: Honestly, the mindset, I think the past few years when we've gone to play Manhattan, they're an amazing program and I have a ton of respect for them, is just hoping that we play well and hoping that we can refine the things that we need to get better at. But, you know, the past couple days when we've been chatting about it in practice, like, just trying to give them the mindset, like, we don't need to be afraid to go compete with them anymore. Like, I think that it is going to be a really great match. I think that each teams have things that we're stronger in than each other, which is the case normally anyway.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: Right.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: But yeah, as long as we can get our hands up above the net when we're blocking and eliminate our errors, I think it's going to be a really great match. And it's always fun to compete with better teams, too. You know, they have had an amazing season. They started number one in the coaches polls. The first two polls that came out and they've dropped a little bit. But I mean, they have just a really solid roster when they have a coach.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: They've had a tough schedule too.
[00:07:35] Speaker B: Yeah. So they're great. I think it's going to be a little change of pace for us. I'm really thankful we had Calvary and faith at home last week. I think that's helped prepare us a lot of, um. But yeah, you know, I think the goal is to play well and get better. But winning would be.
[00:07:49] Speaker A: Winning would be super cool.
[00:07:50] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:50] Speaker A: But yeah, keep an eye out. Cause Friday night, the two undefeated teams in the conference clash or MCCC regular season banner. So it'll be a. It'll be a great, awesome, fun game.
[00:08:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:08:01] Speaker A: And it'll be fun to have all the parents support that will drive down there for the game. Cause I know they're pretty excited too.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: So.
[00:08:07] Speaker A: Yeah. Turning over to soccer, recapping soccer.
[00:08:10] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:08:11] Speaker A: Um, last coach's poll, we were ranked fifth. This last coach's bullet came out on Tuesday. We dropped out of it because we went one in three, unfortunately, since tough stretch, which we talked about last episode. But on Saturday for senior night for the guys also played Ozark had beaten them 20 early in the season. That's the game that counted for the conference standing. So this game didn't technically count, but a great game. The guys won four one. Matt trick 2.0 happened. Josh had two goals. Louie had a goal. Jake had a goal. So that was fun to see Josh's senior night. Cause we were honoring Josh and Eli, Anthony and Carlos and so, which also like, for them too. Like those four guys have really been super, especially Josh and Carlos have been super instrumental in the program. You could also say that they both took a chance on the program, and it's a really cool scene. Just the success of the season with, you know, they're there right now, they're nine five and one. And so going into regionals, a conference this week, being in the top four to compete for a conference championship. And then also looking ahead because they play Manhattan on Friday.
[00:09:15] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:09:16] Speaker A: And then Barkley. 04:00 p.m. 04:00 p.m. and then we go down to Ankeny for a neutral site game against Barclay. And if we take care of business against Manhattan on Friday, the Saturday game against Barkley will then be. The two undefeated teams also in conference will be playing each other for the championship banner in the regular season. So, yeah, huge weekend for the fall sports.
[00:09:39] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:40] Speaker A: For Emmaus. And so we're super excited, but, you know, anything can happen, so.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: Yeah, anything can happen. And, I mean, yeah, it's just fun having, like, the group of fall teams, you know, including cross country as well. You know, everybody's doing really well right now, and, yeah, it's just a great time to be emmaus, I think, you know, we've got a lot of changes going on here.
[00:09:59] Speaker A: Right.
[00:10:00] Speaker B: But, you know, I think knowing that, yeah, the people that we have on our athletics teams right now, like, they're committed to the mission and the vision. They want to be here. And especially, like, thinking about the class of seniors that we have, they came in at a tough time.
[00:10:14] Speaker A: Very tough time.
[00:10:15] Speaker B: You know, this is our first group that's going to be graduating. You know, they entered right after Covid.
[00:10:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: And I think that year, socially, was really difficult, but, yeah, I mean, everybody has just been, like, slow climbing these past few years, and so it's fun to see that, as my loving husband.
[00:10:35] Speaker A: Would say, shout out, coach Reggie, you.
[00:10:37] Speaker B: Know, as we stick to being the tortoise.
[00:10:39] Speaker A: Yep. It's a marathon. You know, it's a marathon. It's a marathon.
[00:10:43] Speaker B: A lot of times, it'll pay off, and even if it doesn't, it's okay, but it's. It's a lot of fun to be here right now, and I think that everybody supports each other really well, too. Yeah.
[00:10:52] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. And especially seeing that, like, looking at cross country, we got to host the super regional race, which was really exciting but very fun. Every single team was there. Our entire men's basketball team was there helping the race. The entire soccer team was there. Your entire volleyball team was there. I think most of the women's basketball team was there, just me. And then a lot of the student body was there. Cause, you know, how often do we get a host, a cross country meet? But it was really cool because this is the first race for them that they competed against runners at our level, within our conference, within our region, within the NCC, and, boy, did they show out.
[00:11:25] Speaker B: Yeah, they did.
[00:11:25] Speaker A: Especially looking at the guys, you know, Benjamin Driscoll finished third individually, which was amazing to see.
[00:11:31] Speaker B: That was awesome to watch him finish.
[00:11:33] Speaker A: It was like he was neck and neck with the guy from Maranatha, and he just pulled it out right at the end. I think he won by, like, 0.7 seconds or something like that.
[00:11:39] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:39] Speaker A: And so that was really cool. And then Matthew Hanselman, he finished 10th, and so our guys were right there. They ended up finishing second time or placement wise. Cause that's one thing I always forget is for regionals and for nationals, it's not about time. It's about where you place.
[00:11:55] Speaker B: Right?
[00:11:56] Speaker A: And so. Cause, like, last year, the team that finished second actually had the fourth fastest time, but they placed differently, and so we ended up finished placing second, which was really cool, behind crown. But the guys had a good race.
Daniel, PRD, everyone else ran pretty close to their normal time, which was cool. And so it's really encouraging looking into nationals, I was talking with coach Gerard, and he was saying, like, the difference between our number one runner and our number five runner was about four minutes, which I think they're for the guys team. For the guy. There were ten schools that were here, and only four of them had enough runners to count as a team. And so, looking ahead at nationals with that, you know, short distance time between the five of them, they should place higher, and this will give us a really good shot at. Yeah, high hopes going at Bob Jones, which is really cool. And then the women, they end up finishing third time wise.
Little bit of a stressful week.
We had a crazy week. One of our runners, Annelise Sweeney, actually got hit by a car.
[00:13:00] Speaker B: And it's one of those things. When I heard that story, I was like, why are you making this up?
[00:13:04] Speaker A: Right?
[00:13:05] Speaker B: This is not the time.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: Like, this is not funny. And you're like, wait a minute. No, she was running. They were running at a roundabout, and this car peeled through the roundabout as she was stepping into the intersection, and the tire kind of hit her shin, ran over her foot, fractured her foot, and she was not. This was Thursday before the race, and she was not able to race. And then the car drove off.
[00:13:28] Speaker B: Just like a genuine hit and run, but, like, you hit a person.
[00:13:31] Speaker A: Yeah. You hit a young lady.
[00:13:34] Speaker B: We should have stopped.
[00:13:35] Speaker A: And the hard part was, like, annalise is, like, in the middle pack of our runners, so, like, they really missed her, but she's in. She's in really good spirits for what happened. Really unfortunate. I know they're working with the police and the authorities to try to find this person that hit and run, but.
[00:13:50] Speaker B: It'S one of those things you don't want to laugh at. It's just so ridiculous.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: It is. It really is.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: You can't even hardly believe.
[00:13:55] Speaker A: And the team had to, like, go run in the regional race after this, and it's like when the world.
[00:14:00] Speaker B: With that being said, it seemed like they were in good spirits.
[00:14:02] Speaker A: Yeah, they were in good spirits, and.
[00:14:03] Speaker B: They competed really well, too.
[00:14:04] Speaker A: They did. Yeah. And, you know, Anna finished top ten, which was really cool to see. Kate finished 18th. No one in or no one did end up Pr'ing, but again, they had a pretty good spread between the five top runners, and then were able to finish third, which they were really close to the second place finish. So looking ahead to nationals, which is in, I think, three weeks, both teams should compete and will compete very well. And it's really exciting just hearing, like, from talking to coach Girardi about just their. Their input and, like, their excitement. They're looking ahead to that. It's. We're gonna. It's gonna be fun this year for, like you said, all fall sports have been killing it, and it's been super encouraging, and I really awesome to see. We praise the Lord through the good times. We praise him through the bad times, but we are definitely thankful for these times right here.
[00:14:49] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. And, I mean, I think it's just being sure that, you know, us as Mas university that feels. It still feels kind of weird to say as Mas university, but, you know, as the individual athletics teams and as athletic staff, like, just being sure that everybody's on the same page, you know, because there is. There's so much hype, and I think a lot of times, to the athletes that come. Comes across as pressure. Well, now I have to perform. People are expecting things, and I think it's good that people expect things of you, you know?
But just remembering, like, our identity is not in the athletic accomplishments. Our identity is in Christ. And either way, no matter what happens in the next month, everybody's had an amazing year.
[00:15:26] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:15:27] Speaker B: So, yeah, we're starting the year off.
[00:15:29] Speaker A: Really strong, but, yeah, we've had fantastic years so far, and that's what matters.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: We'll be okay. We will be. Yeah.
[00:15:34] Speaker A: Speaking of that, breaking news, the power ratings just dropped. And your Mesa university Eagles for volleyball, number seven, number one team in the region. So got that. Number one. See? Congratulations, coach Hannah going into regionals.
[00:15:52] Speaker B: I think we are. I know they're going to take into account the power rating for next week, too, but I'm not thinking it's going to change.
[00:15:58] Speaker A: I don't think so. No. We're 7th, and the closest behind us is grace and their 14th.
[00:16:02] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:16:03] Speaker A: Yeah. Cool.
[00:16:04] Speaker B: Yes. I love that.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: Bob Jones at six, us at seven, faith at eight.
[00:16:08] Speaker B: Wow. So, yeah, it's awesome.
[00:16:10] Speaker A: So Manhattan's third, so that that's definitely going to really amp the game going into Friday. So that's super exciting to see.
[00:16:17] Speaker B: That's great news.
[00:16:18] Speaker A: That is awesome news. Shout out, power ratings that dropped. Shout out coach Megan, who just texted and said, hey, check the power ratings. They just came out.
[00:16:26] Speaker B: We knew it was going to come out mid podcast.
[00:16:27] Speaker A: Yes, we did. Because I think it happened the same time last year, but, yeah, fun weeks upcoming, the last of the regular season and then post season play here we come, which, what a fun year. We get a host conference this year, which I'm sure we'll talk about next episode. But being able to have the conference tournament at home is just really fun because we get to show off what we have to offer with our facilities and then the girls get to not have to travel and get to play at home and defend the home court.
[00:16:55] Speaker B: Yeah, it'll be a fun way to feel like, you know, it's not the official wrap up to the season, but it kind of is. And, you know, just knowing that we get to experience playing at home one more time, you know, with our student body behind us and our parents get to come back home. So, yeah, it'll be really fun. I'm looking forward to it. I have not been on staff since we've hosted a conference tournament.
[00:17:14] Speaker A: It's been a while.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: I think the last one was 2017, which is the year before I came, I think.
[00:17:17] Speaker A: So, yeah.
[00:17:18] Speaker B: So, yeah, this is gonna be a good experience for me. I like entertaining people. So, you know, I like having everybody come here and I agree, like, showing off the facilities and kind of what we have going, looking like. We're hopefully gonna have a new training room with a soft opening. So that'll be really fun.
[00:17:35] Speaker A: The Iverson family training room. Let's go.
[00:17:38] Speaker B: So, yeah, a lot to look forward to.
[00:17:39] Speaker A: And the best part the most important part is the hospitality room for the coaching staff.
[00:17:44] Speaker B: Yeah, I've been having some good talks with the staff.
[00:17:47] Speaker A: Oh, good.
[00:17:48] Speaker B: We're gonna hook up the hospitality space.
[00:17:50] Speaker A: Yeah, let's go.
[00:17:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:51] Speaker A: That's when you can tell when a team really puts effort into hosting a tournament, is what the hospitality room is like.
[00:17:56] Speaker B: Let's impress.
[00:17:57] Speaker A: Right?
[00:17:58] Speaker B: Let's impress.
[00:17:58] Speaker A: You get to drive all the way to Dubuque and experience that beautiful Dubuque. That was also one cool thing I was talking to coach Girardi about was he was saying that all the other teams, most of the other teams were super impressed with the soccer complex and how there are talks about maybe we host the super regional from now on. Yeah, it's a great course, which would be pretty awesome.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: Yeah. And it seemed really accessible for everybody to watch around most of the course.
[00:18:22] Speaker A: And, like, you can walk around it. You can. Because it's around all the seven, 8910 different soccer fields. There's that trail course, which is the fun part of it. And so that'd be pretty cool because we don't often get home meet, and so to have this would be really cool.
[00:18:35] Speaker B: Yeah. I loved being able to support cross country because they're so kind to everybody else.
[00:18:39] Speaker A: They are.
[00:18:39] Speaker B: And it kind of makes you feel bad, like, they're just. It's not as easy to go see them, so, yeah, we were really thankful.
[00:18:45] Speaker A: We are. Yeah. And it's. It's been. It's been. It's been great for them. And also, like, you know, looking ahead a little bit, you know, basketball started for both us and for the. For the women, and so a lot of exciting things ahead. We have our first scrimmage on Saturday, and then we have one on Monday. So we get to see some live action against. Not just internally, against ourselves, and so that's looking. We'll see how the season goes.
[00:19:07] Speaker B: Say, how are you feeling about it?
[00:19:08] Speaker A: I'm pretty excited.
[00:19:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:19:09] Speaker A: I think Philip actually cracked a smile the other night at practice. I know.
[00:19:13] Speaker B: Crazy.
[00:19:15] Speaker A: I know, right? And so, yeah, we practice a little bit after the podcast or we finished recording, so, yeah, I'm really excited.
[00:19:24] Speaker B: It's a really nice group of guys.
[00:19:25] Speaker A: It is. It's a great group. The Lord really blessed us with our recruiting, and it's. I mean, there's some very talented guys, but it's just a group that's hungry just to learn about the Lord, to be around each other. Like, this group is so tight. Like, I've not seen a group this tight in my ten years. Being a part of the team. And so that's been super encouraging. You know, obviously, we'll see what happens when January and February rolls around in the dog months of the season, but it's a great group and the guys just love each other. It's always like we talk about the counseling program here. The two things are love people, love God. And this group have really embraced both of those, which has been really encouraging.
[00:20:01] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's really clear because they do love each other really, really well. But I think they just connect with the student body really well. You know, they play with all the coaches kids, they know all the other athletes on the other teams. They talk to a ton of the faculty and staff. And so, yeah, I think just like the character and then integrity of these.
[00:20:18] Speaker A: Guys is really just interesting how that works out when you're involved and things go better than when you just stay in your room all day.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: What?
[00:20:26] Speaker A: Interesting.
[00:20:26] Speaker B: Crazy.
[00:20:27] Speaker A: It is. But yeah, coach Hannah, it's been a fun week. Can't wait to see you guys perform this weekend. Maybe bring home a banner, maybe we'll find out. But again, follow our social media guys to stay in tune on the live stream links if there's any game time changes to see the updates. Hopefully the updates you'll see are when you watch the live stream. But yeah, keep an eye on that. Remember, check out our talent club. Thank you to all those out there who are part of our talent club. We appreciate the support. If you want to learn more about it, reach out, check the link in the description because will, our producer, his dad is in charge of the town club and he can give you some more information on that. And as always, you know, keep praying for the school. Again, like coach Hannah said, a lot of changes have happened, especially this last week. A lot of amazing, really, really fun changes, great changes. And we're so thankful to the Lord of how he's just continually blessed Emmaus over and over again for these last 84 years. But continue to pray for us as we continue to navigate, bringing in the mission fit students as our teams are out there traveling, representing Christ, but also representative Emmaus. And we just, again, thank you to all you parents out there for all the great support. It means a lot to us. But Coach Hannah, as always, it's a great day to be an emmaus eagle.
[00:21:41] Speaker B: Ptn.
[00:21:42] Speaker A: We'll see you guys later.
