Stover volleyball celebrates multiple milestones ahead of postseason

Published 1:23 am Wednesday, October 21, 2026

Milestones often come and go throughout a volleyball season, but rarely does a flurry of them hit a program all at once.

In the final two weeks of the regular season, Stover volleyball celebrated four achievements in rapid succession: senior Kennedy Worthley surpassed 2,000 career assists, junior Lainee Menning set a school record for digs in a season and surpassed 1,000 career digs, and head coach Candace Bauer reached 200 career wins.

“As the coach, you see all the hard work behind the scenes,” Bauer said. “All the practices, the individual time, the mental side of the game and everything that goes into it. So, when they can put it out there on the court and reach their goals, it’s awesome to see.”

Worthley began the stretch of milestones, achieving 2,000 career assists during the Lady Bulldogs’ four-set win over Fatima on Oct. 2.

“It means a lot to me because, ever since I started playing volleyball, I knew I loved setting,” Worthley said. “I’ve always wanted to reach 2,000 assists, so when I hit it, I was very excited.”

By the end of the regular season, Worthley had pushed her season total to 753 assists.

“I feel like when I think [about the milestone], I think about my whole team,” Worthley said. “I feel like it starts with everyone.”

Menning broke the single-season school digs record during the Kaysinger Conference Tournament, eclipsing the previous record of 389. She finished the regular season with 572 digs.

“It’s super amazing,” Menning said. “I really want to put it up so high that it takes someone amazing to pass me. I really just want to prove to everyone that this is what I can do, and I’m just growing every year. I want everybody to see that.”

Following the conference tournament, Menning recorded 50 digs against Skyline and 38 against Otterville to surpass 1,000 digs for her career.

Menning celebrated that milestone ahead of the Lady Bulldogs’ regular season finale against Windsor.

“It’s super exciting,” Menning said. “I want to keep going, and I’m hoping that it’ll help me get farther in my volleyball career. It’s just super cool.”

Bauer’s milestone also arrived during the Kaysinger Conference Tournament, as she notched her 200th career win after the Lady Bulldogs defeated Northwest 25-16, 25-11 in pool play on Oct. 8.

“It’s hard to put into words,” Bauer said. “I’ve been doing this for nine years, and every year my goal is to pull out the best and then push them even further, and see them overcome and win games that maybe they didn’t think they could or have confidence in themselves when they wouldn’t have. That’s the fun part for me. When those turn into wins, it’s just that much more exciting.”

Over her tenure, Bauer has racked up seven 20-win seasons, including this year and a 34-3 year in 2023. She has also guided the Lady Bulldogs to five district championships.

“When I started here my first season, we won maybe 10 games,” Bauer said. “So, just to set the mindset here in Stover that we are capable of greatness and that is our goal every year, you know, that’s just the mindset we have and the goal we set forth every year. The girls want to be a part of that and step up to the plate and push themselves. That’s always our goal.”

As the hosts of the Class 2 District 12 Tournament, Stover (26-6, 8-1 Kaysinger Conference) is in search of its first district championship since 2024.

The Lady Bulldogs enter as the No. 2 seed and face No. 7-seeded Windsor in the first round at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21. With a win, Stover would advance to play either No. 3 Warsaw or No. 6 Eugene in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22.

“I know we can [win], definitely,” Worthley said. “If we have energy and have fun the whole time, we can definitely win.”

If the Lady Bulldogs reach the district championship, it is possible they would play Cole Camp for the third time this season.

The Lady Bluebirds are the No. 1 seed in the district, having beaten Stover in a regular-season match and the Kaysinger Conference Tournament championship.

“I feel like each time we’ve played them, we’ve grown a lot,” Menning said. “We played more as a team each time. We’re not playing as individuals anymore. We’re just playing as a team. It’s just fun. I’m excited to play them again. I feel like we could definitely win this time.”

The district championship match is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Sports editor Jack Denebeim can be reached at 660-530-0142.