Everyone wants to compare Schylur Edelman and Danielle Minch.
The Sterling seniors both are taller than 6 feet. Both are talented and athletic. Both play in the middle. Both helped lead the Tigers to a Class 4A state championship last year. Both are tremendous students and both will play Division I volleyball next season.
They are the blond towers, and they often are the talk of this small city tucked in the northeast corner of the state. They are the two biggest reasons Sterling is the preseason No. 1 and ranked 85th in the nation.
However, don’t refer to them as mirror images.
“They are so different in who they are and how they play,” Tigers coach Lisa Schumacher said.
Edelman, for instance, yells. A lot. When she spikes, the whole process has enough energy to rip people up off their seats.
“Once that ball hits the floor, I’m pretty much done. I’m screaming,” she said. “I scream for Danielle. I celebrate for anybody.”
Edelman is kind of reckless. She loves to compete in rodeo, especially the speed events. This summer, she fell off her horse and severely scraped her back.
Minch? Not so much visible fire. She’s quiet, focused and laid-back. When she spikes, the shot has a silky-smooth kind of finish. Rather than celebrate, she’s processing the next move.
“I get excited at the right time,” she said.
Edelman’s defense and passing allow her to play on the back row. Minch could follow suit, but with enough talented teammates around her, she’s comfortable coming out. Edelman wants to major in business next year; Minch wants to become a teacher.
So who is better? Who has the better stats? Who is more valuable? Who gets more publicity?
They don’t care. They just want to win another state championship before they split up and begin playing against each other in the Big 12 Conference: Edelman at Colorado and Minch at No. 1 Nebraska.
As sweet as last year’s 31-0 season was, Edelman and Minch are hungry for more.
“You watch them and you go, ‘They just keep getting better,” Schumacher said. “And of course, they keep getting smarter.”
Smart enough to know teams don’t win state titles in 4A with just two great players.
Although they graduated four seniors, the Tigers again are deep. Senior right-side hitter Candice Magnusson has committed to Colorado School of Mines, senior outside hitter Alicia Marin is a talented three-sport athlete and senior Sarah Vallejos is a relentless defender.
Two key underclassmen are setter Haley Beardsley, who leads by quiet example and has impressed early, and outside hitter Kirsten Nickel, who Schumacher says has matured very well.
“Everybody all around is getting better and better,” Schumacher said. “It kind of gives me goose bumps to watch them play.”
A healthy dose of measured fear is probably the best way to survive the megatalented Northern League and the highly competitive 4A field.
Unlike 5A and 3A, where coaches are quietly bemoaning the seemingly impossible task of dethroning defending champions Grandview and Colorado Springs Christian, the Tigers know they are in for a prolonged battle to repeat.
According to PrepVolleyball.com, the Tigers are already behind Battle Mountain, which begins the season pegged as the 79th best team in the nation. Outside that poll but right in Sterling’s backyard are league rivals Greeley West, Mountain View, Skyline and Fort Morgan – experienced programs with lots of talent. But for now, Sterling has the title and the towers, who share one other vital attribute: They both hate to lose.
