Lancaster plays quarterback role in Cubs' drive to final four

BELL CITY -- Sherilyn Long learned her lesson in seventh grade.

Long decided to team with Codie Lancaster for drills and other games. Long realized that if you can't beat Lancaster, join her.

"Oh, she is extremely competitive," Long said of Lancaster. "You don't want to win against her. If we're in the gym, she's going to win. That's her attitude.

"We have these little volleyball games we play. We're always partners, and that makes it fun for me because we always win. We'll run together and we'll always be the first ones done, just little stuff like that."

It's Lancaster's competitive streak that makes her a special volleyball player. The Bell City senior helped the Cubs earn their third trip to the Class 1 final four in her four years at the school.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.comBell City's Codie Lancaster sets the ball for a teammate during the Cubs' district semifinal match against Oran.

"I remember in seventh grade, our first loss, she had literal tears," Bell City coach Erin Hoffman said. "She wasn't sad because they were going to be in trouble or anything like that. She was so angry they lost that she just cried.

"I am very, very thankful for it."

Lancaster started playing setter in seventh grade and immediately caught Hoffman's eye. When Lancaster began her freshman year, the setter position was open. The Cubs had a pair of juniors competing for the spot, but it didn't take long for Lancaster to emerge as the favorite.

"I had to kick her out of the gym," Hoffman said. "She would stay here for a hour or two hours after practice every day until I would say, 'Codie, I have to go home.' She earned that spot."

Lancaster earned the spot at the beginning of her freshman year with her work ethic and determination. She's never relinquished her hold on the position.

"She has been competitive from the beginning," Hoffman said. "She has set in every single varsity game since she was a freshman. She's never been taken out. She's been the only setter on this team the last four years."

The setter essentially is the quarterback on the floor. The setter must read the defense and decide which hitter gets the ball. Hoffman identified Lancaster's ability to analyze what's happening on the floor as her biggest area of growth since her freshman year.

"Her consistency, just taking control of the game, knowing this person is going to get the kill or this person's not doing well," Hoffman said. "She's getting real good at seeing the block. And if the block stays with Jasmine [Johnson], she'll throw it outside. Just her mental side of the game has grown so much."

Lancaster embraces the mental side of the game. She doesn't let friendships get in the way of her setting. If one of her close friends is struggling in a given game, she's going to set someone who's converting kills. She is confident enough in her ability and her teammates that she puts the team's needs first.

"You just have to know your hitters," Lancaster said. "You have to know who's doing well and when they're doing well. If someone isn't doing good, you don't set them five or six times in a row. I guess that kind of keeps everything in balance.

"On our team, it's not like one person wants all the kills. Everybody's not about themselves. Like Jasmine, she probably has 500 kills more than anybody, but everyone's happy about that because that's what wins us games."

While Lancaster praises her hitters and their selfless attitudes, she deserves some recognition for putting them in position to perform well. Hoffman said that Lancaster makes the hitters look good.

"A good setter can make a team, and a bad setter can break a team," Hoffman said. "If your hitters don't have to worry about anything but hitting the ball, they're going to look a whole lot more impressive, a whole lot better. When your setter can put it in the exact same spot every time and your hitters can do the exact same approach, you don't have to worry about any of that timing."

This is the third time Lancaster will make the trip to the state tournament. The Cubs finished third when she was a freshman and fourth when she was a sophomore. She's eager to improve on those finishes this year.

"I guess that's what I'm looking forward to most -- we all want to know what it feels like to be state champions," Lancaster said. "There really is no pressure on us because we weren't even expected to go. I guess everyone thinks we're going to go up there and get slaughtered. Maybe we will, maybe we won't. Coach Hoffman said she either wants us to come out on top or everyone be better than us."

And with little pressure as the Cubs head to the state tournament, Lancaster once again is close to accomplishing the goal she and her teammates set when they started playing volleyball.

"Going to state, for us seniors, it's been our goal since we were little kids," she said. "We wanted to be the state champions."