The Flyers brand of volleyball has been nothing short of spectacular the past few seasons. In 2022, Chester finished as runner-up to Warner before turning the tables on the Monarchs last season. Already during the 2024 regular season the Flyers have wins over Class AA schools Brandon Valley, Douglas, Watertown and Mitchell.

Van Hal remembers the 2023 state championships match as chaotic. In the fifth set, she said she looked around and just tried to calm everyone down. O’Hara said that is the exact moment Van Hal took a step forward in leadership. 

“We saw it at state last year of her being able to control her level of emotion,” O’Hara said. “There are a lot of peaks and valleys in volleyball. You have to learn how to not get to high and not get to low. Lily has grown into such a fantastic on-court coach that she now recognizes that in herself and that carries over to her teammates.”

It if seems like Van Hal has been around for awhile, that’s because she has been. O’Hara brought Van Hal and former Chester Libero Emery Larson, now at Pierre, onto the Chester varsity as seventh-graders.

The move was a bit daunting for both Van Hal and Larson.

“Emery and I leaned on each other that year,” Van Hal said. “It was hard to adjust to playing against players that were six years older than us. She is my best friend and we still talk every day.” 

O’Hara doesn’t bring a lot of middle-schoolers into her program but she knew Larson and Van Hal were special.

“You have to be careful and it’s not about their physical maturity,” she said. “You can’t teach a seventh-grader what a junior knows. Lily was very special as a 13-year old and handled herself with poise and dignity.”

The extended years on the varsity are helping Van Hal pile up the statistics in multiple categories. Recently, Van Hal topped 1,000 career kills, only the second Chester player to do that under O’Hara’s tenure (the other was Jenna Reiff the 2015 South Dakota Gatorade Volleyball player of the year). 

“We run a 6-2 offense and we are fortunate in that regard,” O’Hara said. “Lily is a phenomenal setter and I think in most cases you would run a 5-1 around her and let her dish the ball to every one of our hitters but this young lady can swing. We have a couple of other ladies with great hands but Lily leads us in set assists and kills and when she takes a swing she terminates.”

Those skills, along with the numerous other intangibles, will carry Van Hal to the next level as she recently verbally committed to Division I University of Denver.

Prior to every practice, Van Hal is 15-20 minutes early and sets up the volleyball nets. On Saturday’s she volunteers her time to help coach and then referee volleyball games for fifth and sixth graders.

“Winning the state title is something I have dreamt about from day one in 2015,” Van Hal said. “Coming and watching those games now is something I can do now for the younger kids. I never rest and winning the state title only made us work harder than we ever had before.” 

O’Hara takes it a step further explaining the impact that student-athletes like Lily Van Hal have on the next generation.

“For our Tuesday night match Lily Emmerson Eppard and Jacy Wolf were sitting in the stands and they had about a dozen fourth and fifth graders around them,” O’Hara said. “That is exactly why the program in Chester is so strong. It is because of players like this and what they do to continue the tradition. In 2015 those girls did their job and we hope the circle continues after our current athletes graduate.” 

The Flyers have a stiff test this weekend as they play in the Pentagon tournament in Sioux Falls. The Flyers open tournament play against Class A No. 1 Dell Rapids and complete pool play against Western Christian, Iowa.