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December 5, 1999
GFW's Kaukola leads All-Journal teamBy BOB VARMETTE Journal Sports Writer NEW ULM -- Rebecca Kaukola of Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop knows what's really important. The team. All the individual honors in the world will not win a conference title, a section crown or a state championship. She knows what does. The team. Individual honors are nice, but even still, Kaukola also knows what's truly important, and why individual honors come an athlete's way. The team. "If it wasn't for a pass and a set, I wouldn't be able to hit it," the Thunderbird junior said. "You really need your teammates to be a standout player." A standout player is what Kaukola is. The 5-foot-11 middle blocker and co-captain banged out 402 kills in 1999 and now has 782 career kills with a career kill efficiency of .300. Defensively, Kaukola was a force, too. She recorded 122 blocks during the season and now has 275 for her career. But Kaukola is not just the numbers. "Her stats prove that we go to her a lot," GFW coach Colleen Chambers said. "But her leadership qualities have helped us. She's a great role model for our younger kids. She really pushes the talent level." The numbers earned Kaukola a repeat All-Tomahawk Conference selection in 1999 and a she's a repeat member of the All-Tomahawk academic team in 1999. Kaukola is also a repeat selection to the All-Journal Volleyball Team and is the 1999 Journal Player of the Year. All of which Kaukola accepts with modesty that belies her performance between the lines. "Off the court, she's one of the sweetest kids I've ever met. But her competitiveness shows visibly on the court. When we lose, she takes it really personally," Chambers said. "She's not one to place blame," Chambers continued. "She thinks it's her fault that we lost. She puts a lot of pressure on herself. In fact, she puts too much pressure on herself, that she let down the team." Kaukola is a team player, always. She readily admits that volleyball is her favorite sport -- during volleyball season. But during basketball season, that's her favorite sport, which she's also a stand-out in. And when track is in season, that's her favorite sport. And Kaukola excels in that, too. Whatever Kaukola is involved in, she's totally involved in, and that includes extracurricular activities other than sports. Kaukola is also in band, jazz band, National Honor Society, Students Against Driving Drunk, Spanish club and student council. "I get bored real easily, so I like to stay active with a lot of things. I don't get bored very often, but when I do I really hate it," Kaukola laughed. Keeping busy and learning time management are just a couple of the reasons Kaukola is into so many different things. But there's another reason -- the people. "I like meeting different people," she said. "There's different types of people in every group you're in. I like that." But if there is a first among all the things Kaukola involves herself in, it's volleyball. It's volleyball where Kaukola sees her future after high school. She's already starting to think about playing in college. For now, though, Kaukola is concentrating upon basketball. That's doesn't mean, however, she hasn't given some thought to her final season on the volleyball court. The Thunderbirds will return all of their starters in 2000, including the player Kaukola feels is the key to her success -- junior setter Megan Beltz. The All-Tomahawk Conference setter is also a selection to the '99 All-Journal team. Beltz holds GFW records for most set assists in a season (881) and career (1,616). A lot of those have been to Kaukola. "She's a great setter," Kaukola said. "It's because of her I have a chance to kill the ball." Good friends off the court, the pair have a good relationship on the court, as well. The two have played together since they were in seventh grade, which gives them a special sense of what the other is going to do. "We kind of can read each other's minds pretty well," Kaukola said. "I can tell her something and she'll say that's what she's going to do next. We think alike." Kaukola, Beltz and the rest of the Thunderbirds hope that relationship will help lift GFW higher next season. Kaukola said that, in some ways, 1999 was a building year. The Thunderbirds were a young team finding itself. "I want us to go farther next year than we did this year, obviously," Kaukola said. "Especially since it will be my last season. I think we can go farther just because we'll be able to work so much better together because we've built this year. I think, we'll be really ready for next year." THE 1999 ALL-JOURNAL VOLLEYBALL TEAM Jennifer Johnson, Senior Buffalo Lake-Hector 5-6 Outside Hitter Jennifer Johnson had 300 kills on the season for the Mustangs, runners-up at the Class 1A state tournament. She recorded a serving percentage of 95 percent. Jennifer Johnson was selected All-Tomahawk Conference, All-Tomahawk Conference academic and all-state academic. She was also named to the honorable mention all-state team. Jessica Johnson, Senior Buffalo Lake-Hector 5-6 Middle Blocker Jessica Johnson recorded 238 kills during the 1999 season and served at 87 percent. She was named All-Tomahawk Conference, All- Tomahawk Conference academic, all-state academic and to the 1999 all-tournament team at the state tournament. Stephanie Buboltz, Junior Buffalo Lake-Hector 5-2 Setter Buboltz recorded 739 set assists in 1999 and had a 93 percent serving percentage. Buboltz repeated as an All-Tomahawk selection in 1999, and is also a repeat selection to the All-Journal squad. Buboltz was also named to the 1999 Class 1A all-state team. Megan Beltz, Junior Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop 5-7 Setter Beltz is the setter who helped make teammate Rebecca Kaukola The Journal Player of the Year. The Thunderbirds' co-captain recorded 735 assists in 1999 after setting a school record as a sophomore with 881 set assists. "Our passing game was terrible this year," GFW coach Colleen Chambers said. "Megan had to run her tail off. She's a great leader and an extremely dedicated person." Beltz also had 186 digs for the Thunderbirds and had 42 stuff blocks. She already has 1,616 career set assists. Beltz was named All-Tomahawk Conference and is also a repeat selection to the conference all-academic squad with a 3.9 GPA. Tera Bjorklund, Senior Sibley East 6-4 Middle Blocker Bjorklund -- a four-year varsity starter for the Wolverines -- banged out 339 kills in 1999 with a kill efficiency of .429. Bjorklund also had 65 blocks and served at 94.7 percent. Bjorklund was a repeat selection as Minnesota River Conference MVP in 1999 and was named the Wolverines' MVP for the third straight season. Bjorklund was also selected to the Class 2A all-state honorable mention team. Jessica Schaetzke, Senior New Ulm High 5-10 Outside Hitter Schaetzke banged out 300 kills to lead New Ulm. Schaetzke was second on the team with 31 blocks and second with 214 digs. "Jess is one of the best overall players I have ever coached," New Ulm coach Paul Meyer said. "She is the total package. She hits, she passes, blocks, serves and understands the game extremely well." Schaetzke was named All-South Central Conference in 1998 and 1999 and was also an all-state academic selection in 1999. Molly Babel, Senior New Ulm High 5-4 Setter Babel was named All-South Central Conference with 611 set assists -- an average of 7.5 per game. Babel was also 318-for-334 from the service line with 34 aces -- tops for the Eagles. "Molly did an outstanding job for us this year," Meyer said. "She probably improved more than anyone on our team throughout the year. ... She improved her setting at an outstanding pace." Babel was also selected to the all-state academic team for 1999. Nicole Steffl, Junior Sleepy Eye St. Mary's 5-10 Middle Blocker Steffl led the Knights with 352 kills on the season and also topped St. Mary's with 90 stuff blocks. Steffl was second on the team in digs with 155. Sarah Gronholz, Junior Minnesota Valley Lutheran 6-1 Middle Blocker In her second year as a starter, Gronholz was named to the All-Tomahawk Conference first team, averaging 7.8 kills per match despite many of the Chargers' matches going only three games. Gronholz was chosen the Chargers' MVP for the 1999 season and received the team's best offensive player award also. Gronholz also averaged 6.3 stuff blocks per match. "Her stats weren't as impressive as others you'd see," MVL coach Lori Unke said. "We had a lot of three-game only matches. She's very coachable, willing to learn, and the best thing is she'll be back again next year." Amy Lipetzky, Junior Springfield 5-10 Outside Hitter The Tigers' captain led the team with 278 kills in 1999 and also recorded 66 stuff blocks. In two years, Lipetzky has 386 kills and 101 blocks for her varsity career. "Amy is a very hard-working and consistent player that you could count on all the time in practice and in the game," Springfield coach Donna Johansen said. "Amy was also our best service-receiver and passer this year." Lipetzky had 185 digs for Springfield in 1999 and named to the 1999 All-Tomahawk Conference team in her second year as a starter. Rachel Batalden, Junior Red Rock Central 5-8 Setter Batalden -- a two-time All-Red Rock Conference selection -- was the conference's premier setter in 1999 with 644 set assists. Batalden is the first Falcon setter to log more than 1,000 career set assists, breaking RRC's career mark of 857 set by Dee Barker (1994-97). "Physically, she is not the most intimidating player on the court, but she does an excellent job of quarterbacking our team," RRC coach Troy Gilb said. "She has all the things you need in a setter. She's extremely smart, works very hard, is a great team leader and runs our complex offense very effectively." Batalden has 1,437 career set assists and 403 career digs -- third on the all-time RRC digs list. Emily Eucken, Junior Red Rock Central 5-9 Outside Hitter The go-to girl in the Falcon attack, Eucken led RRC with 294 kills in 1999 and recorded double digit kills in 20 of 26 matches this season. Eucken's 294 kills broke RRC's single-season mark of 283, set by Audrey Olson. Eucken -- a two-time All-Red Rock Conference selection -- had 41 stuff blocks and was second on the squad in digs with 267. "She proved to be the most versatile player for (us)," Gilb said, "starting the season at middle blocker and making the switch back to the outside, which she played as a sophomore, midway through the season." Eucken has 473 career kills (3rd all-time) and 513 digs (1st all-time) in her two years as a starter for the Falcons. "Emily is one of the most well-rounded players on our team," Gilb said. "We can play her at any position on the court and she does an excellent job." Laura Hazuka, Senior New Ulm Cathedral 5-9 Middle Blocker Hazuka recorded 195 kills in 1999 to lead the Greyhounds and had 35 stuff blocks, good for second on the team. Hazuka also was 104-for-115 (90 percent) from the serving line with eight ace serves. Honorable Mention: Buffalo Lake-Hector, Lindsay Ashburn; Sleepy Eye St. Mary's, Katie Vickery, Emily Schroepfer; Springfield, Sara Anderson; New Ulm Cathedral, Natalia Haala, Tessa Hodapp, Andrea Dittrich; Madelia, Ann Jacobs, Gayle Goettsch; Sleepy Eye, Kristen Krebs; Wabasso, Jenny Salfer, Amanda Frank, Angela Schumacher; Nicollet, Chalsey Truebenbach, Krista Kettner, Joslyn Hornung; Cedar Mountain, Corrie Distad, Kristi Krenz, Leslie Johnson; McLeod West, Becky Tongen; Comfrey, Christa Schleif, Amanda Reed.
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