Inductees

The 1975-1976 Licking High School volleyball team
The 1975-1976 Licking High School volleyball team accepting the induction plaques on March 23, 2016.

In the summer of 1975, as word spread in the small community of Licking that MSHSAA would hold its first state volleyball tournament in the fall, team captains Glenna (Driesel) Adovasio and Trish (Kissiar) Knight rounded up the troops and regularly walked over to the house of the high school janitor.

After all, before you can knock down a huge door, you’ve got to knock on a smaller one first – this one belonging to the person with the keys to the gym.

And it was like that every … single … night.

“I don’t know if I can put into words what made that team good. We wanted to win. Always,” Adovasio says all these years later. “Most of us played all the sports because the school was so small. We just worked together.”

Worked together, that is, to make history. When the Missouri State High School Activities Association hosted its inaugural state volleyball tournament – doing so with only one, statewide division with the Davids vs. the Goliaths – guess who won it all? And now, on the 40th anniversary of that special championship season, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame is proud to induct the 1975-1976 Licking Wildcats volleyball team among the Class of 2016.

Coached by Mary Menne, Licking finished 20-1 that season after beating St. Francois County’s Central 15-8, 15-6 in the championship match in Springfield.

The team also included Sandra (Jackson) Aiken, Tammy Oligschlaeger, Linda (Benson) Huff, Kathy (Karnes) Smith, Jean (Kissiar) Potts, Debbie (Krewson) James, Gina (Wulff) Wood, Penny (Floyd) Coday and assistant coach Deanna Smith.

Licking-No. 1 sign

Along the way, Licking took down large schools from Kansas City and St. Louis whose enrollments were almost the size of the Licking community itself, population of roughly 1,000.

Even better, the Wildcats gained a following throughout Texas County. There were the Bleacher Bums, a rowdy group of boys basketball players and other students all wearing overalls and cheering from the stands. And there was Sherman Hill, the janitor.

“Without him, for us to get that extra time in the gym, I’m not sure we would have been as successful,” said Knight.

The Wildcats certainly weren’t at a loss for motivation. In 1974, MSHSAA apparently punted on the idea of a postseason volleyball tournament. It was a disappointing decision especially in Licking, where the volleyball team would finish with only one loss that season.

Regardless, Licking soldiered on, determined to do some damage and then kicked into high gear upon MSHSAA’s new plan for the fall of 1975.

Licking-4th of July

Likely unbeknownst to big schools was Licking’s volleyball love for the sport. Parents who had grown up in or around volleyball saw fit to send their daughters to summer volleyball camps in Salina, Kansas, with Adovasio and Knight also attending an Olympic development training summer camp in Iowa. All would share techniques and plays with other girls upon returning home.

Along the way, the team was forced to adopt to the suddenly new rules, in which players were no longer allowed to hit the ball twice on one attempt.

Licking Team Photo black and white

Menne attended the camps in the summer of 1975, too, after being hired as the coach following the departure of Jane (Gohn) Richardson. Menne had not played or coached volleyball before that season but made it a point to learn the sport as well.

“She did a really good job of keeping us together,” Knight said of Menne.

Licking won the regional in Poplar Bluff, beating Clearwater 15-13, 15-12 in one of its most challenging matches. The Wildcats trailed badly in the second game before scoring 12 of the final 13 points.

From there, Licking beat William Chrisman High School of Independence in the state semifinals 15-11, 15-7 before beating St. Francois County’s Central.

Knight went on to play for Missouri State coach Linda Dollar and the two are now Missouri Sports Hall of Famers, with Knight earning induction with more than 600 victories mostly at West Plains High School and Missouri State-West Plains Community College.

The Bleacher Bums followed the team everywhere.
The Bleacher Bums followed the team everywhere.

Adovasio went on to play at Arkansas State and Texas Lutheran. Oligshlaeger and Jean Kissiar played at Missouri State, Jackson and Wood played at Central Missouri, James at Southeast Missouri State and Benson at Truman State.

The team kick-started a golden era of volleyball for Licking, which placed second in the state the next two seasons and won a state championship again in the 1979-1980 season.

“We were all talented and athletic. We spent our time riding horses and doing farming,” Adovasio said, and later added. “Each girl put in the time. We wanted to be the first.”