MAYER – Mayer Lutheran freshman Emma Lade came into this season not knowing a whole lot about her teammates. She’s played with a few of them here and there, but ultimately, it was something new for the freshman setter.
Fast forward to this weekend, and Lade and the Mayer Lutheran volleyball team will be back at the Xcel Energy Center once again for the state tournament.
While the transition and integration to the Crusaders hasn’t always been easy, there’s no doubt the emergence of Lade is a big reason the Crusaders are back to defend their title.
“I’ve been able to fit in well,” Lade said. “I scrimmaged with them in Shakopee before I knew I was coming here. That really helped me to figure out I was coming here. They were all really inviting, especially Symone.”
After a somewhat slow start to the season in which Lade got used to the speed of the game at the varsity level, she’s found her way alongside her teammates.
“I’ve grown a lot,” Lade said. “I’ve grown mentally and close with them. Before I just knew Lilly because we played together, and now I’ve really gotten to know everybody.”
Lade started the season as the backup setter, but as the season has progressed, she’s quickly became one of the leaders on the team despite being a freshman.
“That took her a long time,” Mayer Lutheran coach Joelle Grimsley said. “We talked a lot about that it doesn’t matter your age. You’ve got to take a leadership role. Honestly, I did not see that start to click with her until maybe three weeks ago. She was very timid and not sure if she should. She’s finally been able to do that now, which you can see on the court. You can see how she’s gelling with people. She’s easily excited, yet she is very critical of herself.”
Lade now splits the setting duties with junior Riley Corrigan. The two have built a strong relationship between the two of them as the season has progressed, which is crucial to the success once again for Mayer Lutheran.
“It’s good,” Lade said about her relationship with Corrigan. “All the time in practice, we’re helping each other. We just encourage each other on the court and in practice and it really helps. The relationships have helped a lot. We just encourage each other and step up to the challenge. We just keep pushing and fighting.”
Playing two setters throughout a match is nothing new for Grimsley and the Crusaders. The past two seasons, Grimsley had the luxury of using Maddy Hucky and Lauren Wandersee as setters. Although neither Corrigan or Lade fill the role Hucky had, it’s a big benefit to have two setters who can run the offense when needed.
“It’s nice,” Grimsley said. “I don’t know if we’d ever have either of them play up front yet, but it’s nice to have both of them who know the system.”
Lade will get her first taste of the state tournament this weekend. While the ultimate goal is to capture another state title, Grimsley is very excited to have these girls experience what it’s like. They might not be the most experienced bunch, but Grimsley believes everything they’ve seen this season will help them on the big stage.
“That’s awesome for all of them,” Grimsley said. “This is what it’s like. This is an experience now. This group is very inexperienced, but throughout the year, you can see who we’ve played and where we’ve been. Those five-set matches paid off for us this week for sure. The other teams didn’t have a lot of that, and we really did. We were able to dig back and say we’ve done this already. We knew what we had to do to finish with a win.”