Inductees

In the community of Eldon in mid-Missouri, the big box-office draw years ago was over at the high school gym.

Walk into the lobby these days, and the history of Eldon Volleyball, particularly 1980 to 1996, takes up most of the real estate. You can’t miss the over-sized picture of the 1991 state championship team over one set of gym doors. And see the volleyballs and trophies behind the glass case? Call it proof that August sweat in the air conditioned-less gym leads to November hardware.

“I vividly remember the first year (1986) we made it to state. Four of us were in the seventh grade. The players that were seniors, we really idolized them,” said Amy Webster Pratt, a senior on the 1991 team. “I remember we were sitting there (for the finals) and the four of us said, ‘Coach, we’re going to win this our senior year.’”

Certainly, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted the 1980-1996 Eldon High School Volleyball Era with the Class of 2022.

The Lady Mustangs tore through that 17-season stretch with a 428-86-16 record, anchored by eight consecutive Final Four berths from 1986 to 1993. Only five other programs have enjoyed that kind of Final Four run, with two stringing together nine consecutive: Santa Fe (9, 1979-1987), Ozark (9, 2009-2017), Incarnate Word Academy (8, 1993-2000), Winona (8, 2000-2007) and St. Pius X of Festus 8, 2010-2017).

Eldon’s 1988 and 1993 teams earned state runners-up, while four teams placed third (1986, 1989, 1990, 1992). The 1987 team placed fourth.

Not that coach Ann Luetkemeyer Gulshen (MSHOF 2018) takes all of the credit.

“I don’t believe it was instruction in the early years as I didn’t know enough to give great instruction,” said Gulshen, hired at her alma mater in 1980. “It was more of a belief and an investment we had in each other. We were all on the same page, with the same mission to be the best that we could possibly be.”

In essence, the Lady Mustangs knew what needed to be done. Complain about the heat in the August preseason? Not a chance, even with the circular cooling fans turned off so Coach could be heard. Practice even after game nights? They did that, too.

And ever hear of houses? Those were running drills in the gym – up one side, across to the other, down stairs and repeat on the other side.

“That was one house,” said Camillia Naught, a 1993 team member. “We ran eight houses in eight minutes. Everyone had to make it, or we ran another set of eight. If we had a bad serving game, the entire team ran a house for each serve missed. We won as a team and lost as a team.”

The 1991 state title team (37-1-2), because St. Francis Borgia had become a Final Four nemesis, watched film of Borgia matches several times through the season.

In the state finals, Eldon beat Borgia in the second and third sets, and soon were grand marshals in the Christmas parade and met Gov. John Ashcroft at the State Capitol.

The previous teams paved the way.

The 1986 team (29-3-1) traveled to St. Louis, a volleyball hotbed, and won the 16-team regular-season, Meramec Tournament.

A year later, Eldon (31-5-1) was fueled by a newspaper article in which a Final Four coach was quoted as saying, “I have never even heard of Eldon before.”

The 1988 team (34-2-1) suffered only two losses, both to Borgia, including in the finals. Eldon sent four players on to college, three in NCAA Division I. Melinda Wrye-Washington (MSHOF 2019) cut off the cast on her ankle just to play the sectionals and quarterfinals.

In 1989, Eldon (34-4-2) broke several state tournament records, including team kills in Class 3 team and overall.

The 1990 team (29-4-3) rallied to win sectionals after the opposing team was at match point. Eldon had graduated several seniors the previous May, and the Lady Mustangs used an early season exit from the Meramec Tournament to fuel its state run.

The 1992 team (30-5-4) won sectionals after losing the opening set and trailing 10-2 in the next.

The 1993 team (33-6) beat four eventual Final Four teams – Hermann, Cole Camp, Incarnate Word and Jefferson City – and nearly pulled off the program’s second state title. In the finals, Borgia won 15-11, 15-5 after Eldon had forged an 11-11 tie in the first set.

Overall, Eldon left quite a legacy.