Deibert takes lead

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Press Photo by Dustin Monke Dickinson High senior outside hitter Madison Deibert, right, taps the volleyball over the net past Minot High’s Jayd Eggert during a match Sept. 15. Deibert has been on the Midgets’ varsity since her freshman year and has gone from wide-eyed follower into the team’s leader.

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Dickinson High volleyball coach Jay Schobinger remembers the first time he put Madison Deibert into a varsity game.

It was four years ago, during the same Dickinson High Invitational the Midgets host this weekend.

“The first time we put her on the floor, I’m sure she would probably tell you she thought that was going to be the last time,” Schobinger said with a laugh. “Things just did not go very well. But we knew what she could do and we knew as a young kid, we were just going to have to be patient and let her grow up, and she has matured into a wonderful volleyball player,” Deibert has gone from wide-eyed freshman full of potential to a senior leader utilizing her talents.

“It was definitely a good experience to play with everyone and know what to expect,” Deibert said of joining the team as a freshman.

She was a Class A all-state second team selection in 2010. However, until this season, she had always played second fiddle to Jess Herauf, last year’s Class A and Gatorade player of the year.

Now, it’s Deibert’s turn to lead the team and, so far, her teammates say she is doing a great job.

“She’s always the one you look to when you’re down, the one you look to bring you back up and bring your sprits back up when you’re down,” Dickinson senior Leslie Beaudoin said. “She definitely has experience over all of us. She has all those situations I’m sure that she can look back on and be like, ‘Well guys, this has happened before, I know how we can get through it.’” As the team’s left-side hitter, Deibert gets in on a majority of the Midgets’ attacks. She leads the team with 12 kills per match and usually comes up with the most digs per match.

“The thing about her is she’s not what you would call flashy,” Schobinger said. “The big hitters, the ones who put the ball down, the middles that thump the ball, those are the ones everybody looks at and goes, ‘Wow!’” Because she stands just 5-foot-8, Deibert isn’t a typical big hitter. But her strengths include picking up her kills on broken sets and hitting around blockers. This happens, she says, by being “fundamentally correct.” She added that a solid offseason work ethic and getting mentally stronger as the years have progressed have helped her game.

“I used to get down on myself a lot,” Deibert said. “I’ve really worked on keeping my head up and just working hard as best as I can the whole game.” Schobinger thinks Deibert has a few more years of volleyball left, too.

“I’d be fun to go play (in college), but I’m not really sure what I’m going to do yet,” Deibert said. “We’ll see.” Still, there are signs she’ll be able to play at the next level.

After Tuesday night’s loss at Bismarck Century, Schobinger said a former Patriots player now playing college volleyball came to visit with him and said how impressed she was with Deibert’s performance. The senior had 15 kills and 15 digs in the losing effort.

It’s little comments like that Schobinger said convinces him that Deibert isn’t through with the game.

“For a former opponent to see that, I think that’s what says more than anything,” he said.

Tags: madison deibert, sports, preps, volleyball