Bus trouble highlighted Monroeville support

The feeling wasn't quite to laugh to keep from crying. But it was close. "I thought it was kind of funny," Monroeville volleyball senior setter Addison Lyons said. "We were all just laughing about it in the moment." Everything was fine on the ride down to the Dayton area on Nov. 6 for the Eagles. They were scheduled to play Russia at 6 p.m. in a Division VII state semifinal at Vandalia Butler High School. Head coach Kendra Snook and her players and coaches were checked in to the team hotel right at 3 p.m. They had stopped and had a good meal. The longtime coach wanted to leave for the venue by 4:30 p.m. to give her players time to get loose after the long trip. The players and coaches gathered in the lobby at 4:15 p.m. But when they looked outside, they happened upon a troubling sight. Their driver of the charter bus had opened the back hatch and was looking at the vehicle's engine. "Obviously that's not normal, and he told us the bus wouldn't start," Snook said. Her reaction was predictably one of, 'What do you mean it won't start?' But it quickly turned to troubleshooting as well. "We had to start making other plans immediately because we didn't have time to wait," she said. With her father, Bill Orwig, on the coaching staff, Snook originally turned to her mother, Georgia, for an alternate plan. The drive from the hotel was only 10 minutes to Butler High School. "My mom could fit six in her vehicle, so we figured we'd make several trips with a coach and players," Snook said. "(Athletic director) Ben Paul was close, and he could carpool some kids over. That was the first thought." But before that plan could be executed, it was pointed out that longtime Monroeville residents and supporters Randy and Mandy Schafer were five minutes away. The couple took a 15-passenger van down for the match. Snook sent assistant coach Sara Staley and her 14 players on the Schafer van to the school. She and the other coaches rode with her mother. "The whole time we're telling the kids this could be so much worse," Snook said. "We could have broken down at far worse places than where we did. If this was a bad situation, this was the best of the worst. "We told the kids it will be a story they always remember." If only that were the end of the story. The Eagles went on to win a thrilling three-set match to advance to the state championship match for a second time in four years. They were going to play Tiffin Calvert two days later on Nov. 8 at the Nutter Center at Wright State University. To the bus company's credit, a new charter bus was waiting for the team after the match. Snook's parents took a separate group to pick up food that had been ordered to eat back at the hotel. As the team was traveling back, Snook noticed suddenly the bus was pulling over to the side of the road. Insanely confused and concerned about more bus trouble, she then noticed the familiar red and blue flashing lights. The team bus had been pulled over. But it wasn't to get a police escort for a victory. The new bus didn't have all its taillights working at nighttime. "Then there were supposedly questions over the driver's certification, but it turned out to be a misunderstanding, and it was fine," Snook said. "But it took 30 minutes, and the girls were getting a little restless." Lyons agreed but said there was still amusement amongst the team. "When we got pulled over, everyone was still laughing," she said. "It did take a while, but all you can do is laugh. Always have fun and never take anything for granted." The next day, the Eagles again had a new bus — their third of the trip. That one had no issues. But the entire series of events drove home to those involved what the true meaning of community support is. "Randy and Mandy don't have a kid on this team and never have," Snook said. "But they follow us all the time, and that's who comes and saves the day to get us to our match, and that says something about our community. "It's a big family that is special. A lot of people put a lot of miles on their cars over the weekend to be able to see us play Thursday, then get back for the football game, and they all traveled back to Dayton and brought even more people." Paul said after dealing with the transportation issues to the match, the phone call about the second bus getting pulled over was one of the most stressful calls he's received in 30 years on the job. "It's 90 minutes of the drive home communicating with Kendra, the bus company, and our administration, making sure everyone knew what was happening," he said. "But a lot of stress was taken away earlier in the day with Randy there with the van. "There are a lot of people like that who don't see it as an extra thing to do but as an obligation of what it means to be a Monroeville community member. So many who don't even have kids in our school go above and beyond." Snook also noted the Schafers waited after Thursday's match to make sure the team was set before departing back to Monroeville. "They were willing to wait around despite a long drive home, and for them to do that and support these girls says a lot about them," she said. "I hope the girls realize how special it is. I told them before the (state title) match to just look up and see all those people who are here to watch you. "It says everything about Monroeville and the type of community it is."