T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER - Family connections once again lead Grundy Center volleyball into its first state tournament berth since 2019. Pictured, from left, are Grundy Center head coach Lori Willis, Spartan seniors Carlie Willis and Ellery Luhring, and assistant coach and Spartan alum Landry Luhring.

GRUNDY CENTER — The Willis and Luhring surnames are synonymous with Grundy Center volleyball’s success in the last decade.

Connections across branches of these family trees are once again prevalent in this year’s state-qualifying team that begins the state tournament with a quarterfinal against Carroll Kuemper at 4:25 p.m. Tuesday at the Xtream Arena in Coralville.

Carlie Willis, in her senior season with Grundy Center and the state’s leader in kills heading into the state tournament, is the youngest child of head coach Lori Willis. Setting Carlie up is senior teammate Ellery Luhring, whose older sister, Landry, is assistant coach.

Carlie is the school’s all-time kill leader, Ellery the all-time assist leader.

But all of these connections and accolades are filed under one all-important title: Spartan.

“The common theme this year is family,” said Landry Luhring, who was part of three Grundy Center state teams, including two with sister Kyah. “We want these girls to know that they have people that have their backs no matter what, no matter their background, or where they come from, I just hope they truly feel valued.”

Lori also coached up her daughter Kylie, who was part of the 2016 and 2017 state-qualifying teams.

“Both of these girls have their own unique personality,” Lori said. “You have to coach every individual differently, because everybody is motivated differently and you figure out those individual needs and how they respond.

“Carlie is motivated by honesty. She wants you to be honest and tell her exactly what she’s doing wrong and what she needs to do to fix it.”

Carlie and Ellery had a front-row seat, two of several Spartans of today who remember watching the last state-qualifying team in 2019.

“I remember being on the sideline and being more nervous than the girls out there playing were,” Carlie said. “We’d do cartwheels in the halls between points to pass the time for how nervous we were.

“We were both thinking, just give us two more years, and that’ll be us. We were waiting for our team where we’d be the ones on that pink court. We adored those girls.”

Landry is in a unique position of being sister-coach after being sister-teammate with Kyah.

“Ellery played a different position than I played, but I feel like with our communication, she’s able to trust what I’m saying, what Lori’s saying, and passing that on,” Landry said. “And to see her confidence communicating with her teammates is amazing.”

Being a part of state-caliber volleyball teams is in their blood.

“Watching Landry and Kyah play really helped me learn what it takes,” Ellery said. “As a setter, I’m a natural leader, so I just try to stay calm and be there for everyone, which is also important as a senior.”

It’s not as easy as putting a new set of family members on the floor, though.

For the first three years of Carlie and Ellery’s high school careers, the Spartans were rebuked by Denver in regional finals twice in 2020 and 2022 and dumped in the regional semis by Wapsie Valley in 2021.

“We were four points away [from qualifying for state] last year,” Carlie said. “And I remember seeing ‘four points’ on the whiteboard when we came in for the first day of practice this season. And we knew that this would be different, that we wouldn’t fall short this year.

“We had some juniors and seniors that were on previous state teams in years’ past, but when they graduated, it was like a clean slate. And we knew that we’d have to rebuild and see what the other girls did to get where they were.”

Having a big sister as an assistant coach provides balance, Ellery said.

“I can always come to her if I’m a little riled up and she’ll always calm me down,” Ellery added. “It’s been amazing because I’ve always looked up to her and having her as a coach, I respect her time. … And I think we know when to separate it when we’re at home, we know we can take a break from volleyball too and not have to always be talking about it.”

Landry herself has grown as she’s shifted perspectives from playing for Lori to coaching alongside her.

“Now that I see behind the scenes of how much preparation and work she puts into getting us prepared for the games, it’s just something you don’t see as a player,” Landry said. “It’s really been eye-opening for me and it feels good to know how much trust and love she has for the girls.”

The result is a united front with every girl on the varsity roster finding their role. GC senior Blessing Edittu has evolved into a solid defensive specialist for the Spartans, but also provides brevity through humor.

“My personality is goofy as is,” Edittu said. “But I’ll always be cracking jokes and show my personality and just try to find my way to try and uplift people.”

That mentality carries through the team, even through the ups and downs, senior libero Lucy Lebo said.

“We’re very comfortable with each other, we’re going to love up on you,” Lebo said. “If you make a mistake, we’ll get on you about it, but we’ll help you with it, it’s out of love. … We’re all such a close group, and I feel like we always say the more teams touch, the more they win.”

Iowa Girls High School State Volleyball Tournament

At Xtream Arena, Coralville

Quarterfinal Pairings

CLASS 5A

Monday, Oct. 30

No. 1 Dowling Catholic (30-7) vs. No. 8 West Des Moines Valley (19-15), Noon

No. 2 Ankeny Centennial (30-6) vs. No. 7 Ankeny (24-14), 12:25 p.m.

No. 4 Pleasant Valley (27-5) vs. No. 5 Johnston (32-6), 2 p.m.

No. 3 Waukee Northwest (24-9) vs. No. 6 Cedar Falls (34-6), 2:25 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 30

CLASS 4A

No. 1 Clear Creek-Amana (45-0) vs. No. 8 Norwalk (26-14), 4 p.m.

No. 2 Indianola (36-4) vs. No. 7 Marion (26-12), 4:25 p.m.

No. 4 North Scott (26-4) vs. No. 5 ADM, Adel (27-3), 6 p.m.

No. 3 Cedar Rapids Xavier (24-6) vs. No. 6 Lewis Central (31-2), 6:25 p.m.

CLASS 3A

Tuesday, Oct. 31

No. 1 Mount Vernon (33-4) vs. No. 8 Dubuque Wahlert (18-12), 10 a.m.

No. 2 Cherokee (29-6) vs. No. 7 Union Community (38-11), 10:25 a.m.

No. 4 Davenport Assumption (27-7) vs. No. 5 Des Moines Christian (37-7), Noon

No. 3 Western Christian (29-13) vs. No. 6 Center Point-Urbana (27-9), 12:25 p.m.

CLASS 2A

Tuesday, Oct. 31

No. 1 Dike-New Hartford (47-0) vs. No. 8 Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont (26-7), 2 p.m.

No. 2 Hinton (30-1) vs. No. 7 Aplington-Parkersburg (34-8), 2:25 p.m.

No. 4 Denver (34-10) vs. No. 5 Sumner-Fredericksburg (28-13), 4 p.m.

No. 3 Grundy Center (37-7) vs. No. 6 Carroll Kuemper (34-6), 4:25 p.m.

CLASS 1A

Tuesday, Oct. 31

No. 1 Ankeny Christian (36-3) vs. No. 8 Newell-Fonda (21-8), 6 p.m.

No. 2 Boyden-Hull (21-11) vs. No. 7 Council Bluffs St. Albert (23-14), 6:25 p.m.

No. 4 BCLUW (34-10) vs. No. 5 St. Ansgar (24-6), 8 p.m.

No. 3 Holy Trinity Catholic (31-10) vs. No. 6 Don Bosco (24-16), 8:25 p.m.