HAMPTON — For as long as anyone can remember, the population sign in Hampton has read 432. In 1986. In 1996. Today.
And, in a time when towns this size are losing their school or consolidating with another nearby town, these Hawks thrive as a family. A recent school bond issue that passed will upgrade facilities and give Hampton a new gym and commons area.
Nowhere is the feeling of family more evident than on the volleyball court where, if you didn’t know them, you’d think these five Hampton seniors were sisters. In a way, maybe they are.
Just by sitting with them for a few minutes, you sense each has a role and they know exactly what it is. When four of the five have been together playing since third grade, you sense they could almost finish each other’s sentences.
Ashlynn Arndt, Tristin Mason, Jaime Troester and Madison Van Housen have played together since elementary school. Tayler Klassen, who fits right in, transferred to Hampton as a sophomore.
They have won 71 volleyball games. 49 more basketball games. They have been to state in each sport. Yet, they slip on a uniform for this town – this school – and know there is more work to do.
“We don’t really like losing,” Troester said, as if it wasn’t obvious enough.
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Hampton coach Diane Torson is ready for her 31st season guiding this gritty program, one that takes on her personality.
They have won 572 games. Two state championships. Been to another state final. Thirteen trips to the state tournament in total. She has taught her player’s parents.
Last November at Pinnacle Bank Arena was one of her toughest days. Hampton led O’Neill St. Mary’s late in game four of the Class D-2 semi finals and had a 2-1 lead in sets, but fell 25-23 and then quickly lost game five. Conference mate Exeter-Milligan, who Hampton defeated twice earlier in the season, would win state the next day.
“We cried for a good ten minutes in the locker room,” she said. “But, we went out the next day and won. I was really proud of the team for that.”
Returning All-State players (1st and 2nd team in class) from Striv Schools
Kylie Broich, GINW. Jayden McCartney, Chadron. Lesley Fox, St Paul. Fallon Stutheit, Johnson-Brock. Kali Brester, Howells-Dodge. Aubrey Frederick, Dundy County Stratton. Brynn Westenburg, Johnson-Brock. Madison VanHousen, Hampton. Sydney Hall, Exeter-Milligan, Jaime Troester, Hampton.
A consolation game win over Sandhills-Thedford fueled a fire for their offseason. One lesson sticks in their head.
“We have to finish, all the way until the end,” Mason said. “No matter what the score is.”
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All great teams fit together like pieces of a puzzle. You can sense these five seniors lock together pretty well; the pieces don’t have any gaps between them.
They sit five wide in a semicircle for this interview.
Arndt, the only one who hasn’t been a starter, is right in the middle. She holds them all together. She rarely answers a question, but nods in agreement to most answers.
She is the one who has challenged them in practice for three years and is ready for her turn. At a small school, sometimes the practices can be more difficult when the kids who don’t quite get to play are better than the other team’s starters.
Torson, for her part, is excited to see her on her court.
“She has been such a hard worker,” he coach said. “She is going to show a lot of people that she deserves to be out on the court this year.”
To Arndt’s right are Van Housen and Mason. Both all-staters. Van Housen, the Doane recruit in volleyball, and Mason, in basketball.
Like her spring off the court, Van Housen’s stats will jump off the page. Last year she had 394 kills, 74 aces and 70 blocks. There is a look in her eye even after just the second practice of the season.
“We felt like we could have won the state championship last year,” she said. “It made us give 110 percent every day this summer.”
Her coach is glad she is in her lineup and not anyone else’s.
“She makes everyone on the team better because of her skill level,” Torson said.
Mason, who is more basketball star than volleyball, is the grinder. The one who does the stuff you might not see on the stat sheet or in the newspaper the next day. Last year, she had 72 ace serves and 402 digs, which led the team.
“Tristin is very quiet, you kind of forget about her,” Torson said. “Then all of the sudden, that key dig that you needed, that big serve, she is the one who made it. She really fills her role.”
To Arndt’s left are Klassen — the newbie, if you will — and Troester, the all-state setter who is part bulldog, part quarterback.
Klassen fits right in, even though she transferred to Hampton as a sophomore after starting her freshman year at High Plains. You sense she is the outgoing spirit the group needed.
“When she came here it was like she was part of the family,” Van Housen said. “She fit right in.”
A double figure scorer in basketball, Klassen was a force at the net last year. She led the team with 77 blocks and had over 200 kills.
“Tayler is our chatter bug,” Torson said. “She is the one who is always talking and communicating. And she just plays with great emotion. I think she’ll open up a lot of eyes this year with her hitting.”
On the other end, Troester holds court. You can see quickly she is the setter and a team leader. If you were just walking to the bus, she’d want to beat you there.
She dished out 983 set assists last season and earned second-team all-state honors in Class D-2. Her coach appreciates her competitiveness, in adjectives.
“She is very focused. Determined. A very hard worker,” the coach said. “And she gets everybody in the right spot.”
And, when your conference has had a team in the state volleyball finals every year since 2009, the list of goals can be pretty simple.
“We want to win our conference,” Troester said.
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That trip to the end goal will get tested pretty quick. As they have for many years, Hampton will open the season in a triangular with Exeter-Milligan and BDS. The defending champions have five starters back.
There is a great deal of respect from this group for their conference mates.
“I think playing in our conference just makes you work that much harder,” Troester said. “We always have had a tough conference.”
Klassen said the schedule, as difficult this year as in years past, prepared them last year. In 2016, they will play just five D-2 schools.
“That’s what really prepared us last year,” she said. “The conference, losing in the conference tournament (to Exeter-Milligan). All of that got us ready for the postseason.”
As they embark on this final journey, they can see the end in sight. It’s likely they will have no regrets come November.
“We need to play every game like it is our last game,” Mason said. “Every game is that much closer to the end and we need to make them all count.”
But, the great thing about sports is that even when it’s over, they will take some lessons with them. Lessons that their coach probably can’t teach them in accounting class.
“When you put in hard work, it shows up when you need it to,” Klassen said.
“That sometimes it takes more than one person to get the job done. You have to have others work with you,” Mason said.
“I think you learn how to get along with others,” Van Housen said. “You learn a lot of life skills.”
They’ll take all of those lessons to the court one last time this fall.
For their coach who built champions, past and present. For their little community that refuses to change that population sign and supports them win or lose.
“There is a lot of tradition here,” Troester said. “It’s good to have the support of everyone in our community. It means a lot.”
In Hampton, in volleyball and everything else, everyone is family.
