On the surface, a dig is the grunt work in a volleyball match. It often appears as a desperate lunge to keep the ball off the floor. But a successful dig marks a transition in the game, from a defensive posture to one in the attack mode. And in the pantheon of Huron High School volleyball, when it comes to digs, nobody does it better than junior Havyn Heinz.
On Saturday night, when the Huron Tiger volleyball team takes on the Aberdeen Central Golden Eagles, Heinz will earn recognition for garnering her 2,000th career dig. To put it into terms that may be more understandable to those of us more ‘volleyball-challenged,’ Tiger coach Shelly Buddenhagen equates it to scoring 1,000 points on the basketball court.
“Havyn does so many things for our team and our program,” Buddenhagen said earlier this week, “but most importantly, she makes our team better.”
Heinz is a four-year starter for Buddenhagen, taking the court as an eighth-grader. And for the past four years, she has anchored the Tiger defense from the back row, as the team’s libero. Her job as libero is to do all she can to keep each and every kill attempt by that night’s opponent from hitting the floor.
That sounds simple on the surface, until you realize that to do so, she is stepping in front of a ball that is traveling at a high rate of speed, off the hand of a hitter who is intent upon getting the ball to the floor. In that respect, Heinz has been a thorn in the side of most of the top front liners in the state for the past four years.
“I guess I started playing when I was in fourth or fifth grade,” Heinz said. “My brother’s girlfriend at that time played and we went to games. It looked fun and so I went out for volleyball when I could.”
It was through the Junior Olympic program that Buddenhagen oversees during the summer, that she noticed Heinz, as a seventh-grader.
“We had started her as a setter and she was a good hitter as well,” Buddenhagen said. “We had brought her up to play on the U-16 team, as a fill-in. I noticed her because of how she positioned herself and talked with her teammates. She had the ability, but there was a presence there as well.”
Buddenhagen said that crossing the magical 2,000 kill threshold is proof of a player who has inherent talent, and has worked hard to improve herself and her team. She owns the season dig record for HHS (756 digs, set last season) and each match she adds to her career dig mark. The only record left for her to achieve is the ‘digs in a game’ mark, which is 47, and belongs to Heather Seiler.
“Records are nice, because by doing what I am helps the team be successful,” Heinz said.
“Havyn has the ability to tell where the attack is coming when the ball comes off the setter’s hands and she gets herself into position to make the play, based on what she sees and what the scouting report says we can expect,” Buddenhagen said. “And that happens in less time than it took to tell it.”
Keeping the ball from getting to the floor extends the point and frustrates the opposition. But it also sets the offense in motion. That means that the ball, coming in quickly must be stopped and somehow directed toward where the setter is positioned. That, in Buddenhagen’s opinion, is an important aspect of Heinz’s game as well.
“We score our diggers on a scale of zero to three,” she said. “A perfect dig - a three - gets the ball to the setter within a defined area. That keeps us in system and lets the setter position her set for a good kill attempt. For her career, Havyn is a 2.41 out of a 3.0. That is pretty darn good.”
Over the past four seasons, the volleyball programs across the state have come to know Heinz’s prowess and have started to avoid her if possible. “They used to seek her out as an eighth grader and a freshman,” Buddenhagen recalled, “because she was young. She always handled it well.”
From her beginnings as a middle schooler playing on the varsity, leading by example, Heinz said that she has become more of a leader who is willing to do whatever she can to help the younger players.
“That’s the same with the younger players as with records. Helping them understand why and where they are in a position makes us tougher as well.”
Heinz said that she is very thankful to Buddenhagen for the opportunity and for pushing her each day to become a better player.
“I also wish to thank my teammates, with whom I have played since seventh grade. Any records or milestones are due to their help, as well as (team managers) Tanner (Evers) and Tyrese (Theus) for improving my skills.”
Saturday night she will get the opportunity to do what she loves; thwart an opponent’s kill attempts and do what she can to see the Tigers emerge with another win.
“Getting back to state,” she responded when asked what would constitute success for the team this season. “Then winning it.”
PHOTO BY CURT NETTINGA/PLAINSMAN Huron High School junior libero Havyn Heinz will earn recognition for passing 2,000 digs in her career Saturday night, when the Tigers host Aberdeen Central at Huron Arena.
