COVID-19 Case Brings East Mills Volleyball Season To Abrupt End

Home was the last place Connie Viner wanted to be Monday night.

But there she was.

Instead of coaching her No. 15-ranked East Mills volleyball team against rival Fremont-Mills in the Class 1A, Region 2 opening round, Viner spent her Monday quarantined – like her team and coaching staff – flipping between live streams of other team’s first round matches.

“It’s hard to watch but it’s also hard not to,” Viner said of watching matches she’d rather be at in person or better even, coaching in.

Viner and her team’s season was abruptly ended last Tuesday when a player tested positive for COVID-19. That afternoon, East Mills Middle/High School Principal Dale Scott and athletic director Matt Thornburg, under the guidance of Mills County Public Health and the Iowa Department of Health, effectively ended the Wolverines’ season by announcing the team and coaches would be required to go into quarantine for two weeks.

Viner described the news as a “sucker punch.”

“We were having such a great season,” she said.”

The Iowa Department of Public Health recommends a quarantine of two weeks when individuals come in close contact (within six feet) of a COVID-19 positive individual for 15 minutes or longer while both are unmasked.

The individual who tested positive for East Mills had practiced with the team through last Monday. The Wolverines, like most teams, do not practice in masks.

Contact tracing though the school and public health determined the entire team and coaching staff would have to quarantine. The team could not have returned to the court until Oct. 26.

Viner said the player who tested positive was tested at her part-time job on Oct. 7, but never had symptoms and did not receive her results until Oct. 13.

“No one has had any symptoms, myself and the coaches were negative and a few of the girls who I know were tested were negative,” she said. “But you just don’t know with this so you need to be sure you’re not spreading it.”

Viner said the player has had two subsequent negative tests but out of caution the school district decided to shut down the season.

“She feels terrible and it’s not her fault,” Viner said of the positive player. “It was just a regular thing and she happened to get it. And then she has two more that are negative. I even asked what would happen if we all tested negative and wore masks all the time? And the answer was still no. It’s a really tough decision.”

The Wolverines final three regular season matches last week were cancelled in addition to their playoff opener. They finish with a final record of 22-2.

If getting the news was difficult, Viner said, delivering it to her team Tuesday afternoon was devastating.

“That was really, really, really, hard,” Viner said. “There was a lot of tears and crying and a lot of disbelief.”

The pill was especially hard to swallow considering the Wolverines were one of the hottest teams in Class 1A. They had won 16 of their last 17 matches, their first ever Corner Conference tournament title and were ranked No. 15 in the state when the rug was pulled out from under them.

“We won’t even get a chance at regionals,” Viner said. “Our bracket was going to be tough anyway but we wanted an opportunity to play and give it a shot. You never know what could happen.”

Viner feels especially bad for her seniors: Rachel Drake, Ebonee Drake and Kaylor Horgdal.

“They don’t get another chance,” she said.

Several area coaches have called and texted and emailed their support for the team, Viner said.

“I think it’s really hard for everybody to deal with,” she said, adding she isn’t aware of any other area teams who have seen their seasons ended due to the virus.

The Wolverines’ playoff opponent Monday, Fremont-Mills, who went through their own three-week quarantine during a mid-season outbreak at the school was credited with the win by forfeit. The Knights will face Council Bluffs St. Albert or Sidney in tonight’s Class 1A, Region 2 quarterfinals.