For the most part, the KC Power club volleyball team lives up to its name. The team is made up predominantly of players from the Kansas City area, and when it has to replace players, it typically finds them from within the metro.
So when Lauren Longbine showed up at one of the team’s open gyms last August, the Emporia High then-sophomore was a mystery to coaches Mike and Danielle Stowell.
Longbine impressed the KC Power powers with her ability, work ethic and confidence, earned one of two open spots on the team and embarked on a seasonlong ride in which she and her teammates won big — while Longbine, at the same time, learned how to win.
At the end of June, Longbine and KC Power went to Miami and capped a fantastic season at the USA Volleyball Girls’ Junior Olympics national competition. The team went undefeated in Miami and took home the 16-and-under Open championship, winning the title match on June 29.
“I learned how to be a better athlete and how to be a harder worker, and how to practice harder,” Longbine said. “And overall, I think I just became a better volleyball player fundamentally, and I learned a lot more about the game.”
Winning the national title was a huge accomplishment, but it was also business as usual for this edition of KC Power, which was victorious in every tournament it played in which a winner was declared. Practices began in November, and regional tournament play began in January. In March, the national qualifying tournaments began; the first was in Indianapolis, the second was in Kansas City and the third was in Minneapolis. Needing just a top-three finish in one of the three to qualify for nationals, KC Power won all three.
Meanwhile, Longbine was getting to know her eight teammates — and learning just how dedicated they were to the sport.
“It was just a lot different,” Longbine said, “because they play really fast, and it was just a lot higher-caliber kind of a team. Because most of them just play volleyball, and that’s kind of their whole life.”
So how did Longbine, the only team member not from the KC area, mesh with her teammates? Well, she says, “I think all eight of them are like my best friends now.”
“I fit in really easy,” she said. “They all said that it felt like I’d been playing with them since I was 12, just because our personalities are alike, and we just all got along. So it was really fun.”
The Stowells — head coach Mike and his wife, assistant coach Danielle — knew, upon first seeing Longbine on the court last summer, that she’d integrate well with the Power.
“We didn’t know anything about her, obviously, being way out in Emporia — we didn’t really think to look that far for players,” Danielle Stowell said. “And she showed up at an open gym, and we offered her right away. We thought it was a great fit.”
Longbine’s confidence was one of several factors that impressed Stowell and her husband.
“Some of the girls she was trying out with were some of the best,” Danielle Stowell said. “They’ve almost all won state championships, they’re all real good players, and it didn’t shake her confidence or faze her in any way.
“She came in and did her thing, and was real aggressive, and she just fit in real quick with them, has a great attitude and just has a real good demeanor about her. Great teammate, and that just kind of showed through right away.”
The Junior Olympics brought Longbine’s first trip to Miami — and, as the Power got closer to the title, progressively tougher competition.
“The first couple days, (opponents) were kind of easy, because it was just pool play,” Longbine said. “And then, when we got to semifinals, it was pretty tough. Because they were all California teams who were really good, and that’s all they do, is play volleyball.”
KC Power took down City Beach in the semifinals in four games — 25-15, 21-25, 25-22, 25-22 — to face TCA in the semifinals. The Power won the first two games by 25-19 and 26-24 scores, dropped the third game 25-17, then clinched the title with a 25-21 victory.
With the club season now over, Longbine can look forward to her junior year at EHS, and if Danielle Stowell’s evaluation of Longbine is any indication, new Spartan head coach Ashley Nehls might be arriving in time for to see Longbine bloom on the court.
“She’s got tremendous potential,” Stowell said. “She’s just a natural blocker, really reads the ball well when she’s blocking, and has come a long way in her attack. We run a pretty quick offense, quicker than most club teams even, and she hadn’t really seen that fast of offense. And it came to her pretty quick. ...
“So she made huge strides in all aspects of the game. She’s got a lot of potential to kind of go wherever she wants to go.”