T-Bird team causes Chaos

ANN WILLIAMSON/THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Wendy Kobbeman of Team Chaos spikes the ball during Saturday morning's 18-and-under tournament at Shawnee Heights.

Shawnee Heights teammates past and present are tough to beat

By Paul Carr

SPECIAL TO THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

Shawnee Heights has been a state volleyball power for the past several years, and the Thunderbird success has continued at Washburn.

Saturday, it was on display in the Sunflower State Games at Shawnee Heights High School. Led by five current and former Thunderbird athletes, Team Chaos was runner-up in the girls 18-and- under volleyball tourney.

The Mustangs earned the gold medal, defeating Team Chaos 25-23, 17- 25, 15-13 in the round-robin matchup midway through the tournament.

Current Washburn players and 2001 Shawnee Heights graduates Wendy Kobbeman and Dani McHenry headed up a squad that contained five players who won last year. That Sunflower Games experience played a factor.

"We've all played together before," said Heights junior-to-be Whitney Kobbeman. "So we know how everyone thinks."

But many bonds on the team go beyond merely having been Sunflower Games teammates. With five T-Birds on the team, and despite up to a five-year age gap between players, the Shawnee Heights bond definitely aided team cohesiveness.

"We come from the same system," said Wendy Kobbeman, a junior at Washburn. "And we play the same game. That makes it easier to play together."

"(The older girls) have lots of experience, and they help us with our confidence," added Leslie Townsend, a future senior at Heights.

So what has made the Thunderbirds a state power that has racked up five top-three 5A finishes in the last six years?

"Coaching," stated the younger Kobbeman. "Coach (Kerry Kapfer) works us hard at practice. She's really energetic on and off the court."

"She knows a lot about volleyball and knows how to communicate that," Townsend said.

Kapfer also knows about team unity, a theme that has echoed through waves of Shawnee Heights players.

"When I was there, we had a lot of team chemistry," said Wendy Kobbeman. "We were all friends on and off the court. We played together on club teams too, but we all got along really well."

"Coach is all about team unity," Whitney Kobbeman said. "She would rather have a team that is gelled together instead of a couple individuals who are very good."

Nonetheless, Kapfer's top-notch teams have produced a number of excellent players in the last five years.

Don't expect the Thunderbirds to slow down any time soon. Only four players on last year's roster were seniors, leading Townsend to flash a smile and say simply about this year's team, "Yep, I'm excited."

Copyright 2003
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