Guentert ‘Setting’ Stage for SHS Success
A huge position switch this season has not slowed down Jenna Guentert.
Guentert was an all-state libero last season for the Schulenburg volleyball team, but this year the Lady Horns needed a setter to replace another all state player who graduated, Landry Zapalac.
Schulenburg head coach Donald Zapalac knew just the player to try to fill the big shoes left behind by his own daughter.
“The setter is like a quarterback or a point guard – everybody’s counting on you to distribute the ball in a way everyone is happy with,” Zapalac said. “Jenna has a good mindset for it. She plays point guard in basketball, Those things go hand in hand, you have to distribute the ball and you have to be a team player and understand what makes your teamwork click. It’s a pressure packed role ... She’s really started to understand what we want from our offense and how to get those things to happen.”
For everything Guentert has done to help the Lady Horns clinch a playoff berth this season (which they did this week), we’re proud to honor her as this week’s Fayette County Athlete of the Week.
We caught up with Guentert at practice recently. Here’s some highlights of our interview: The Guentert name is pretty familiar to Schulenburg volleyball fans.
Jenna has two older sisters (Blair and Julie) and two cousins (Tanner and Bay) who all starred for the Lady Horns.
“It’s fun to be part of such a legacy thing in our family,” Guentert said. “Volleyball means a lot to us. We always talk about it. It’s a great honor to kind of be the last one in my family to do it.”
Jenna’s sisters were liberos and that’s the position she gravitated to early on as well, but her freshman year she played setter on the JV.
“I wasn’t totally new to it (being a setter) so it wasn’t too hard for me to switch (this year),” Guentert said. “I was aware I was potentially going to be in that position. I wasn’t fully surprised by it, so I could get myself ready for it, and I’ve enjoyed the switch.”
And the results speak for themselves.
The Lady Horns are 24-19 See overall and 9-4 in district and haven’t lost to anyone not in the state rankings since August – and that’s even while moving up in classification to 3A this season, and losing several key players from last year’s state semifinalist team. “It starts in the summer,” Guentert said. “We’re really good about getting all the girls to get in the mindset that you have to play up to the level we expect. We have a lot of sophomores that have done a lot. We lost a ton of key players. It was hard losing them but every year we find a way to rebuild with new girls.”
Volleyball is not the only sport Guentert stars in for Schulenburg. She is also a standout in basketball, track and tennis.
She said her favorite class is floral design, her favorite musical artists is Megan Moroney, her favorite movie is “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ and her go-to fast food order in Schulenburg is Whataburger’s Sweet and Spicy Junior.
Even though she’s just a junior Guentert is also thinking ahead to graduation.
“There’s like five different things I want to do,” Guentert said. “But as far as my dream job, I would want to be a occupational therapist.”