Tuesday, November 6, 2018 ● The Gazette 1B

VOLLEYBALL STATE TOURNAMENT

LIFE CHANGING

Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette

Regan Janssen, a Starmont volleyball setter, stands near the intersection in rural Arlington where she and three others were hit by a car in August. Janssen missed the first part of her senior
volleyball season as she recovered from spinal-cord injuries suffered during the accident.

Starmont senior Regan Janssen survives crash, thrives on the court

By Jeff Linder, The Gazette It is here that the white Dodge through photos of the destroyed into their first-round match
pickup truck Janssen was riding truck, which flipped three times against No. 6 Tripoli (23-15) at 8

A
RLINGTON — Regan Jans- in — along with her two brothers before landing in the ditch south- p.m. Wednesday at the U.S. Cellu-
sen paid her first visit in and her boyfriend — was broad- east of the intersection. And you lar Center, Cedar Rapids.
more than two months to the sided by another vehicle Aug. 19. know Janssen is fortunate. And Janssen? She has shaken
intersection of E Avenue and 50th A senior setter for the Starmont “You’d have thought they’d off the injury, the periodic pain
Street in rural Fayette County. High School volleyball team, Jans- have taken her out of there in a and the loss of conditioning to
The tire tracks of two vehicles sen suffered five compression body bag,” Stars Coach Robert average 10.40 assists per set. Only
are still visible in the ditch. And a fractures in her back, along with Goedken said. “We think of this as one setter in the state, Macy Bai-
traffic-control sign still is absent burns from contact with bleach our miracle season.” ley of Bondurant-Farrar (10.63),
© 2018 The Gazette

at the corner. that was contained in the truck. The Stars have advanced to the averages more.
“Most gravel-road intersections The accident cost her the first state tournament for the third Since Janssen returned to the
around here are like that,” said few weeks of the volleyball season. straight year. Ranked No. 4 in lineup — she was out for a month
Regan’s mother, Stacie Janssen. It could have cost her much more. Class 1A, they take a 29-6 record
“No stop signs, no yield signs.” All you have to do is leaf and a 12-match winning streak ;; JANSSEN, PAGE 8B
8B The Gazette ● Tuesday, November 6, 2018

STATE VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT

Janssen/Not messing around this time

;; FROM PAGE 1B
after the crash — Starmont is
22-2.
“The crash was a life-chang-
ing event for me,” she said. “I
think I’ve matured since that
happened.
“At the end of the season,
the seniors have to write a
letter to their parents, telling
them thanks for being there
and all that. And it made me
think about how much you
take for granted. They could
have lost all three of their kids
that day.”
Last Wednesday, the day
after Starmont swept HLV to
nail down another state ap- Starmont’s Madilyn Vaske (left) fist bumps Regan Janssen (2) as they are in-
pearance, Janssen revisited troduced before their regional high school volleyball match at Starmont High
the crash site. School in Arlington on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018.
“It’s still so vivid to me,”
she said. sometimes a sharp pain will
She was in the back seat, on hit her.
the passenger side. Her older And there are lingering
brothers (Brady is 27, Colton psychological effects when she
23) were in the front, and her travels.
boyfriend, Eric Vaske, was “Every day, I think about
with her in the back. it,” she said. “I’m always on
They had returned to edge. I’m not comfortable
the Janssens’ house after
Family photo when I drive.”
participating in Starmont’s The August accident wasn’t
annual booster-club golf The truck in which Regan Janssen was the first that Janssen had
tournament. Then they set riding, after the accident. survived. In 2011, she and
out for some Sunday-evening Stacie were struck at another
fishing. Janssen got a second opinion, of those rural gravel-road
They were eastbound, the then a third. intersections. Regan suffered
other vehicle southbound, so “She left a lot of doctors ap- internal bleeding; Stacie broke
with no signs, the Janssen ve- pointments in tears,” Stacie a foot.
hicle had the right of way. Janssen said. “At one point, Janssen is a three-sport
“I remember one of my athlete. She is a two-time state
Stephen Mally photos/The Gazette we thought she might not see
brothers yelling. I remember the court until regionals.” qualifier in golf and a pitcher/
being on the floor of the truck Starmont’s Regan Janssen (2) sets the ball during the second set of their re-
gional high school volleyball match at Starmont High School in Arlington on Janssen was released in catcher/shortstop for the soft-
(after it came to rest), and I time for the Denver tourna- ball team.
couldn’t catch my breath be- Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018.
ment Sept. 22. And she is one of seven
cause there was bleach in my “She was a little out of seniors that have made Star-
mouth,” she said. something was very wrong She was fitted for a back shape,” Goedken said. “The mont a prominent volleyball
“I got out of the truck, and I with her back. brace, in which she stayed for first tournament, she couldn’t program. In their first two
could feel my body burning.” “It was really messed up,” most of the next month. get to anything down by her state appearances, they met a
She pointed to the east. she said. Her senior volleyball sea- ankles like she usually does. quick exit.
“That’s the house that Eric An ambulance transported son was on hold, replaced by For a while, she’d wear a back “It’s hitting us that this is
and I went to, to get the bleach Janssen — the most badly physical therapy. brace during the day, then our last year,” Janssen said.
washed off of us.” injured of all involved — to “My first thought was that take it off for practice and “We’re not going there to mess
That saved them from se- Regional Medical Center in she’d be out a few days,” Goed- games.” around. We’re going to get the
vere burning. As the bleach Manchester, where tests re- ken said. “But it kept getting When Janssen was released, job done.”
washed away and the adren- vealed compression fractures extended.” she was told that she wouldn’t
alin wore off, though, Janssen in the C-2, C-3, C-4, C-5 and Without their setter, the be pain-free. When she l Comments: (319) 368-8857;
came to the realization that T-11 vertebrae. Stars started 7-4. Frustrated, turns her trunk to the side, [email protected]

STATISTICAL LEADERS CLASS CEDAR FALLS (44-0) No. Name Ht. Yr. Pos

5A
l Nickname — Tigers 2 Kirsten Graves 5-8 Jr. DS
l Coach — Matthew Johnson (5th 4 Emerson Green 5-9 Jr. S
CLASS 5A year at Cedar Falls, 192-22; 15th 7 Dara Hulstein 5-10 Sr. MH
9 Ashley Schildroth 5-11 Sr. OH
Kills per set year overall, 495-138) 11 Emily Clapp 5-10 Sr. OH
Name, school.............................................................Avg. l Tournament history — 20th
17 Alayna Yates 6-5 Jr. MH
appearance, defending 5A champ. 21 Akacia Brown 6-0 Jr. OH
Madi Kubik, West Des Moines Valley���������������������������� 5.11 Tuesday
Kenna Sauer, Ankeny Centennial���������������������������������� 3.86 Noon
Sydney Kloubec, Cedar Rapids Jefferson����������������������� 3.67 WAUKEE (29-14) No. Name Ht. Yr. Pos Court 1
Akacia Brown, Cedar Falls�������������������������������������������� 3.63 l Nickname — Warriors 3 Kori Knox 5-3 So. DS
Haley Bush, Waukee���������������������������������������������������� 3.44 l Coach — Danielle Kohut Lynch 4 Avery Showalter 5-8 Sr. L
6 Layanna Green 6-0 So. MH
Assists per set (1st year at Waukee, 29-14; 13th
11 Kelsey Plumb 6-0 Sr. S
Name, school.............................................................Avg. year overall, 145-111) 12 Kate Nelson 6-0 Jr. OH
l Tournament history — 6th
Emerson Green, Cedar Falls����������������������������������������� 9.76 15 Maggie Clark 6-2 Sr. MH
Maddy Baxter, Cedar Rapids Jefferson�������������������������� 9.57 appearance, first since 2011. 18 Haley Bush 6-2 Sr. OH
Thursday
Riley Morgan, Ankeny Centennial���������������������������������� 9.42 10 a.m.
Kelsey Plumb, Waukee������������������������������������������������� 8.16 Court 1
Phyone Schrader, Ankeny��������������������������������������������� 8.13 C.R. JEFFERSON (37-6) No. Name Ht. Yr. Pos
l Nickname — J-Hawks 3 Maddy Baxter 5-8 Sr. S
Digs per set l Coach — Will & Amy Norton (4th 7 Allie Krousie 5-5 Jr. DS
10 Kaylee Donner 5-6 Sr. L
Name, school.............................................................Avg. year, 110-52)
18 Maggie Peters 5-11 Sr. MH
l Tournament history — 10th
Kaci Behrens, Ankeny�������������������������������������������������� 6.48 20 Lindsey Culver 5-11 Sr. OH
Kirsten Graves, Cedar Falls������������������������������������������ 4.47 appearance, and second straight. 21 Sydney Kloubec 5-9 Sr. OH
Allison Pisarcik, Linn-Mar���������������������������������������������� 4.16 Runner-up in 1996. 22 Peyton Brokovich 6-0 Sr. MH
Tuesday
Kaylee Donner, Cedar Rapids Jefferson������������������������ 4.11
2 p.m.
Payton Lombardi, West Des Moines Valley�������������������� 3.88
RATINGS LINN-MAR (31-9) No. Name Ht. Yr. Pos Court 1
Aces per set l Nickname — Lions 3 Allison Pisarcik 5-7 Sr. DS
Name, school.............................................................Avg. CLASS 5A l Coach — Teresa Bair (6th year at 5 Tori Niemeyer 5-8 Sr. OH
6 Megan Renner 6-2 Sr. S
Maddy Baxter, Cedar Rapids Jefferson�������������������������� 0.72 Linn-Mar, 173-65; 29th year overall,
1. Cedar Falls 8 Ellie Von Lehmden 5-8 Sr. OH
Anna Flynn, West Des Moines Dowling�������������������������� 0.60 752-204) 9 Emily Strauss 5-10 Jr. MH
Layanna Green, Waukee���������������������������������������������� 0.57 2. Ankeny l Tournament history — 5th
11 Anna Gorsich 5-11 Sr. MH
Avery Showalter, Waukee��������������������������������������������� 0.56 Centennial appearance, and third consecutive. 14 Allison Feigenbaum 5-11 So. OH Friday
Emma Scheck, West Des Moines Dowling�������������������� 0.55 3. WDM Valley 10 a.m.
4. C.R. Jefferson Center Court
Blocks per set 5. Linn-Mar ANKENY CENTENNIAL (38-3) No. Name Ht. Yr. Pos
Name, school.............................................................Avg. l Nickname — Jaguars 2 Kenedy Balentine 5-6 Sr. DS
6. Ankeny 8 Riley Morgan 5-9 Sr. S
l Coach — Jessica Rinehart (6th
Sara McCullough, Ankeny��������������������������������������������� 1.25 7. WDM Dowling 9 Kenna Sauer 6-1 Sr. OH
Alayna Yates, Cedar Falls��������������������������������������������� 1.16 10. Waukee year, 209-30)
11 Devyn Robinson 6-1 Jr. MH
Megan Lively, Ankeny Centennial���������������������������������� 1.04 l Tournament history — 6th
16 Josie Magner 5-4 Sr. L
Devyn Robinson, Ankeny Centennial����������������������������� 0.97 LINDER’S appearance, and sixth straight. 17 Ari Winters 6-1 Sr. OH
Allison Feigenbaum, Linn-Mar��������������������������������������� 0.85 Three titles (2014-16). 23 Megan Lively 6-3 Sr. MH
PICK ‘EMS Tuesday
Noon
Quarterfinals W.D.M. DOWLING (29-12) No. Name Ht. Yr. Pos Court 2
l Cedar Falls 2 Rose Fitzgerald 5-3 So. L
l Nickname — Maroons
over Waukee in 3 l Coach — Mary Beth Wiskus 5 Anna Godfredsen 5-10 Jr. OH
l Cedar Rapids 8 Jacey Koethe 6-0 Sr. MH
(10th year, 306-101)
Jefferson over 10 Piper Kirchhoff 5-9 Fr. OH
l Tournament history — 7th
Linn-Mar in 5 12 Mira Baccile 5-9 Jr. MH
appearance, and seventh in a row. 16 Calliope Coppola 5-7 Fr. OH
l Ankeny
17 Sophia Painovich 5-7 So. S Thursday
Centennial over
West Des Moines 10 a.m.
Dowling in 4 W.D.M. VALLEY (40-3) No. Name Ht. Yr. Pos Court 2
l West Des l Nickname — Tigers 1 Payton Lombardi 5-8 So. L
l Coach — Jeremy Mikesell (9th 2 Jacey Spann 5-9 Jr. MH
Moines Valley 4 Olivia Curry 5-8 Jr. S
over Ankeny in 3 year at Valley, 292-105; 21st year
6 Shea Fuller 5-5 Sr. S
Semifinals overall, 548-244) 8 Allison Blythe 6-0 Sr. MH
l Cedar Falls l Tourney history — 9th trip, third
10 Madi Kubik 6-1 Sr. OH
over C.R. straight. 5A runner-up last year. 11 Hayden Kubik 6-0 Fr. OH
Tuesday
Jefferson in 4 2 p.m.
l Ankeny Court 2
ANKENY (31-12) No. Name Ht. Yr. Pos
Centennial over l Nickname — Hawkettes 4 Taylor Richards 5-10 Sr. OH
West Des Moines
© 2018 The Gazette

l Coach — Joe Morton (4th year at 5 Malea Daugherty 5-8 Jr. OH

Valley in 5 10 Kaci Behrens 5-4 Jr. DS
Ankeny, 116-46; 10th year overall)
Stephen Mally/The Gazette Championship l Tournament history — 17th
11 McKenna Scheib 5-10 So. MH
Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s Maddy Baxter eyes the ball during l Ankeny 12 Isabelle Vacek 5-11 Jr. MH
appearance, all since 1996. Four- 17 Sara McCullough 6-1 Sr. MH
the second set of the regional final. Baxter is among tourna- Centennial over
time champ, most recently in 2009. 23 Phyona Schrader 6-0 So. S
ment leaders in assists and aces per game. Cedar Falls in 5