GROTON – From pounding volleyballs over the net, to kicking soccer balls into the net, a group of Groton girls has had a memorable fall campaign.

The Groton volleyball and soccer teams share about a dozen girls who are major contributors to both programs. While the schedules can be demanding, the results are noteworthy.

“They don’t want to give up on either team, because they know that both teams need them,” said Groton volleyball coach Chelsea Hanson. “They’re definitely hard workers.”

All but two of the starters on the volleyball team are also on the soccer squad. The majority of the soccer players are also on the volleyball squad.

“It’s been interesting coming in here my first year as a coach,” said Groton girls’ soccer coach Matt Baumgartner, “and having to share athletes has been quite fun, honestly.”

Between varsity, junior varsity and statisticians, there are numerous connections to both teams.

“We have 28 girls in the volleyball program and 11 of them play both sports,” Hanson said. “Two of those girls actually also run cross country.”

The dual-sport varsity athletes include seniors Liz Fliehs, Laila Roberts, and Faith Traphagen, juniors Jaedyn Penning, and Jerica Locke, sophomores, Taryn Traphagen, and McKenna Tietz and freshman, Sydney Locke. Faith Traphagen and Reyelle Gilbert also compete in cross country.

Hanson saw this day coming about a decade ago when she took over the volleyball program.

“They’re just competitors. They want to compete. That’s just how they are. … That’s just kind of how this group is and we’ve known this for a long time,” Hanson said. “I’ve been coaching for 10 years and I remember hearing about this group of girls that’s coming up when they were in second and third grade. We’ve just known that this group was going to be athletic and in everything, and want to do everything. It’s just crazy.”

To be sure there have been sacrifices that needed to be made. From scheduling games to making sure the athletes have enough time to study to ensuring they have proper rest and nutrition, it has been an interesting ride.

“I think from all us playing dual sports, and then keeping all our grades up over the years, it’s really helped us to build up …. endurance and time management on how to keep it all in check,” Fliehs said.

Make no mistake, the schedules have been demanding, from double practices after school, to having competition on most days of the week.

“We’ve had a game for every sport, almost every day for the past two weeks,” Fliehs said, “so it’s been a little rough.”

On a positive note, the girls are incredible shape.

“I think we might be one of the most fit teams in the state at this point,” Baumgartner said.

Both coaches keep a close eye on their athletes to make sure they eat right and get their proper rest.

“We feel a lot of responsibility to take care of them,” Hanson said.

With their demanding routine, the girls could easily get run down.

“These girls are burning 2-3,000 calories a day, running from sport to sport,” Baumgartner said.

There is also a price to pay when it comes to scheduling as both the volleyball and soccer teams are forced to play less games to help accommodate the other.

“There are sacrifices and both programs feel it at different times,” Hanson said. “You’ll always notice that our volleyball program is usually 8-12 games shorter than everybody else in a season, and the soccer, they’re 4-5 games short in a season. There’s only so much time in a week.”

However, it’s a price that everyone is willing to pay to allow these girls a chance to compete in two sports that they love. And the coaches know the potential consequences of not providing that opportunity.

“It would hurt both of our programs,” Baumgartner said of the prospect of forcing the girls to make a choice. “I think the girls love playing both.”

It’s something that is rarely seen in team sports these days where a group of talented and motivated girls are having a huge impact on two teams at the same time.

“It really is something they should be proud of,” Hanson said. “There are growing pains and there are sacrifices. A lot of people don’t necessarily see that.”

The Tigers are currently 13-5 in volleyball and leading Region 1A in seed points, while the soccer team is 8-1-1 and one game away from making a return trip to the State A championship game in soccer. Groton hosts Dakota Valley at noon Saturday in the soccer semifinals.

“I’m just really excited to compete,” Fliehs said, “and hopefully make it back to where we were last year with soccer and even farther with volleyball.”