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Henning named as first-team All-WAC selection
Kutina named to honorable mention list
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Katleyn Henning, a senior libero for the Great Bend High School volleyball team, was named as a first-team selection on the 2011 All-Western Athletic Conference team in a vote by leagues coaches.

Great Bend High School’s Katelyn Henning was named to the first team and senior middle hitter Liz Kutina was named honorable mention on the All-Western Athletic Conference volleyball team.
“First, she’ll be hugely missed,” GBHS head coach Kelsey Perry said of Henning, the school career and season leader in digs. “She did a tremendous job for us the entire year and put us in siutations to win a couple matches we wouldn’t have otherwise won.
“She also kept us close against some great teams. She deserves it, for sure. She worked extremely hard all season and is a great leader in the back row. A lot of girls look up to her.”
Henning wound up her career with 492 digs, including 296 this past season.
“She’s a good leader on-and-off the court and those are hard to find in every kid,” Perry said, “so we’re excited that we had that this year and our younger kids got to experience Katelyn.”
A summer of hard work helped Kutina step to the forefront at the net for the Lady Panthers, who were ousted in the opening round of the Class 5A sub-state tournament in Salina, falling to eventual sub-state champion Newton.
During the conference tournament in Hays, the Lady Panthers captured third-place in the WAC, beating the host Lady Indians.
“Liz, she just put in so much time in the offseason between her junior and senior year,” Perry said. “That really got her on the honorable mention list.
“Coaches that had seen her before didn’t really know who she was, and this year she stood out and that was really good for her.”
According to Perry, Kutina played her best volleyball during the final stretch of the season.
“She was definitely our go-to hitter, our consistent hitter,” Perry said of Kutina. “She had a good connection with our setter, Tarynn Stueder, and they did a great job together.”

2011 Western Athletic
Conference
Volleyball Selections

First team
Katelyn Henning, Sr., Great Bend
Brenna Briggs, Sr.,  Dodge City
Casey Curran, Jr., Garden City
Kristen Helman, Jr., Garden City
Sidney Schmeidler, Sr., Hays
Jai Chapman, So., Liberal

Honorable Mention
Elizabeth Kutina, Sr., Great Bend
Makiah Adams, Jr., Liberal
Alexis Sanchez, Jr., Dodge City
Chinasa Ekweariri, Sr., Garden City
Katelyn Schumacher, Jr., Hays

WAC Player of the Year
Casey Curran, Garden City
WAC Coach of the Year
Sara Steckl — Garden City

Selections were made in a vote by WAC coaches