By Fred Solis
The Hutchinson Tribune
ANDALE—During her private volleyball sessions, Andale senior Abbey McNeal said she hits “1,000 balls over and over just to kind of get in the same routine of the hitting form and placement” she’ll bring to the 2026 season.
As McNeal leads the Indians in their defense of the 4A state volleyball championship, she has a chance to convert those 1,000 practice hits into 1,000 career kills. Entering the season, her cumulative kill totals stand at 610.
Last year, the outside power hitter rang up 349 kills on 777 attempts (0.290 hitting percentage) with 20 blocks, second on the team to 2026 graduate Hayden Grimes’ 419 kills on 844 attempts, said Coach Scott Johnson.
“She’s probably the hardest hitter in all of 4A and one of the hardest hitters in the state,” Johnson said of McNeal. “She had a great year last year. She’s got a ton of kills. I expect the same this year.
“She complemented Hayden well last year,” Johnson continued. “The two of them were dominant on the outside. She and Hayden were kind of the main points of the past.
“Last year, we were definitely heavy-setting the outside hitters, and honestly, I was okay with it. I mean, they were First Team All-State for a reason; I think you get them the ball,” Johnson said.
Andale finished the season with a 36-1 record and won the state title.
With Grimes now playing at Colorado State University, McNeal will get the ball more, Johnson said.
“Abbey’s going to start where Hayden started last year, and so that’s going to get Abbey onto the court earlier in the game,” he said.
“That’s just going to contribute to more sets and more kills over the course of a season because she’s not that first outside hitter rotating off the court. She’ll be the first one coming on to start the game. So, she’ll naturally get more attempts that way.”
A varsity player since her freshman year, McNeal’s playing time has increased each year, and so has her hitting percentage. It jumped 50 points between her sophomore and junior year, Johnson said, and he expects it to jump another 50 points this year.
“I’m a big fan of swinging hard because even if you hit it right at somebody, it’s tough to dig,” Johnson said. “We’re working a lot on scoring off the block, seeing the hands, working around the block, swiping the block, and even some off-speed shots. If she can add some of those extra shots to her bag of tricks, she’s going to score even more.”
McNeal has been preparing for the big moment since her mother Elaine Fleetwood began passing her the ball when she was 7. By age 10, she was playing club ball and has been on the school team since seventh grade.
“I’ve always been playing with my mom,” McNeal said. “Mom was so happy when we won state; she cried.”
McNeal has committed to play volleyball at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, a Division II school that’s ranked in the top 10 in the country, Johnson said.
In the meantime, she’s relishing her chance to lead the team back to state and win another state title.
“It (winning state) was so great. It was all worth it—all the work we did before,” McNeal said. “I feel like I stepped up last year compared to freshman year, and that was just a lot different.
“In the earlier games (last season) I was just trying to hit it as hard as I could, but during state, I kind of tried to do more placement because that’s really what mattered more. Sometimes I’d get carried away and try to knock people out,” she said.
This year, Johnson looks for McNeal to play within herself.
“She is not the only attacker on the court, so I don’t need her to try and play above and beyond what she’s capable of,” he said.
“I think she’s going to be just fine,” Johnson said. “So as long as she’s not putting too much pressure on herself to try and make up what we lost in Hayden.”
Losing Grimes, the 4A Player of the Year, stings, Johnson acknowledged, but this year’s team is “very well rounded,” he said.
“Every single hitter that is going to be coming on the floor can get kills,” he said. “So, while I do want to go to our strengths, we have other people that can get kills and will get kills this year.”
Johnson said he’s excited for the season and carrying 11 seniors, plus a junior and a sophomore.
“It’s going to be senior-heavy. We might be the only team in the state with 11 seniors on the team,” he said.
Because of the senior-dominated team Johnson sees it as a “win now” season.
“We’re going to be very young in the coming years, but they know our systems, they’ve been in the program,” Johnson said.
“Last season the right side was getting kills, the middles were getting kills, and they will be again this year,” Johnson said. “Reagan Winter is another one that will get a ton of kills. She’ll get a ton of blocks. I’ll have her spaced out from Abbey so that they can kind of carry the load,” Johnson said.
Winter, who has committed to D-II Washburn University, was on the First Team All-State tournament team last year.
“I like that balance because if we go heavy to Abbey over and over and over, the blockers just sit in front of her, and it makes it tougher for her to score. So being balanced is going to help us as a team,” Johnson said.
In their quest for another standout season, Indians fans can look for McNeal to lead the team by example and her calm demeanor.
“I definitely need to bring leadership into the season to show them what’s possible and what they should be doing; be a good role model,” McNeal said.
“We preach energy, effort, attitude, talk and teammate, and she is doing all those,” Johnson said. “Her energy is always good. She always puts in the effort, always has a good attitude as a great teammate.
“It should be a good year,” Johnson said. “I think Andale, Topeka-Hayden, Bishop Miege, Clay Center, even Eudora, are going to kind of be the top five teams in 4A. So, it should be fun, but I think we have a chance again.”