Coaching victory milestones weren’t something Sarah Johnson could even begin to comprehend as she finished up her first year as Silver Lake’s head volleyball coach in 2008.
 
Her debut season saw the Eagles post a 10-25 record. Meanwhile, Johnson’s mother, Mary Pat Weese, had just become a member of the state’s 700-win club finishing her distinguished career as head coach at Salina South after state championship stints at Bennington and Sacred Heart.
 
“I did the math and I was like, ‘Ohhhh, I just have to coach for like 70 years to get close to what she did,’” Johnson recalled. “That sounds doable.
 
“So I never really thought about the numbers in that sense.”
 
Now in her 17^th season as head coach at Silver Lake, Johnson is still chasing her mother’s final win total of 755 career victories. And while she’s still more than 200 wins away, the gap has closed that her tenure won’t have to last another 50-plus years to get there.
 
In Tuesday night’s Big East League sweep of Jefferson West and Hiawatha, Johnson hit a milestone of her own. The win over West to start the night was the 500^th of Johnson’s career, pushing the Eagles to 8-2 overall this season and 4-0 in league play.
 
“When I really take the time to think about what it means, I have a flash of young ladies in my head, special matches, appearances at state, really tough losses. It’s just a flood of memories. Just the work that all of these girls that have been the Silver Lake volleyball program have put in and the relationships that I’ve made with them. It’s just a flood of awesome memories.”
 
Indeed, it’s been quite a run for Johnson at Silver Lake. After that 10-win debut season, Johnson hasn’t had a season in which she’s won fewer than 25 matches. She’s posted nine 30-win seasons with her best record a 42-3 showing in 2015.
 
The Eagles didn’t win a state title that year, finishing runner-up to Garden Plain, but they did claim state championships in the two years sandwiching it (2014 and 2016) and also won titles in 2013 and 2018, giving Johnson four championships in her career in nine state appearances.
 
Her mother had three state titles -- two at Sacred Heart in 1979 and 2000, with the 2000 state title coming with Johnson as a senior on the team, and the other at Bennington in 1977.
 
Needless to say, the bond between Johnson and her mother is a strong and special one.
 
“We talk volleyball constantly and she’s always been a great sounding board,” Johnson said of Weese, who was in attendance for her 500^th win. “We overlapped a bit with coaching and I get so much from her and have always looked up to her. We’re also very different in many ways and as I’ve grown up I’ve kind of made it my own. But she’s always been an amazing role model and mentor for me. She’s just amazing.
 
“If you can imagine the most amazing mother’s love, it’s 100% her. She’s just loves so hard and so passionately and loves seeing her children be successful and living out their passion. It’s just such a cool bond we have and it was 100% special having her there.”
 
After posting her 499^th career win the previous week at the league triangular at Riley County, Johnson had a full week to wait for her milestone win. Which meant constant focus on it from just about anyone and everyone she talked to leading up to Tuesday night.
 
Which caused some anxiety for sure.
 
“I didn’t like it; didn’t want anybody talking about it and I sure didn’t want it to be on my players’ minds,” said Johnson, who is now 501-161 in her career. “I just felt like it would take away from the purpose of why we’re out here. It was just one of those things that ‘I don’t want to hear about it.’
 
“But then I also thought that it’s a celebration of the program. It was cool for the players because it was celebrating us like I celebrate them. Every past player that’s talked to me (Tuesday) night or sent me a text message today, they’re congratulating me and in turn I’m congratulating them, saying, ‘Thank you for being a part of it and being along on this ride and earning some of those Ws with me.’”
 

 
OTHER VOLLEYBALL STANDOUTS

• Ayla Klingenberg became Rock Creek’s career leader in kills in the Mustangs’ sweep of Abilene, TMP-Marian and Smoky Valley on Sept. 5. Klingenberg went into the quad needing just four kills to break the mark of 907 kills set by Becky Lightfoot from 1996-99 and finished the night with 43 kills, including 23 in a three-set win over Smoky Valley. Klingenberg, who now has 981 career kills after Tuesday’s sweep of Chapman, already holds the program’s single-season kill record when she had 366 her sophomore season in 2022.
• Nemaha Central and Holton both are also unbeaten in Big East League play along with Silver Lake. The Thunder are 5-0 in league play (11-1 overall) after sweeping Riley County and Rossville on Tuesday, while Holton is 3-0 (7-3 overall) after sweeping Perry-Lecompton and St. Marys.
• Valley Heights and Hanover are the lone unbeatens left in the Twin Valley League in league play with Hanover the only unbeaten team in the league overall as well. Heights is 5-0 in league play after sweeping Doniphan West and Washington County, while Hanover (5-0 overall) is 4-0 in league following wins over Onaga and Clifton-Clyde on Tuesday, though the latter didn't count toward the league standings. 
• Maur Hill claimed the title at the McLouth Invitational, going 5-0 on the day without dropping a set. The Ravens fought off Mission Valley 28-26, 25-22 in the championship match and now own a 10-1 record on the season overall after sweeping Northeast Kansas League foes Oskaloosa and Riverside on Tuesday.
• Rossville bounced back from a pool-play loss to Prairie View to claim the title at the Humboldt Tournament. The Bulldawgs swept Baldwin 25-10, 26-24 in the semifinals and then avenged the pool loss with a 25-21, 25-22 in over Prairie View in the title match.