(KMAland) -- Throughout the month of August, KMA Sports is introducing the members of this year’s KMA Sports Hall of Fame.
Today, we go to the first part of the century when Red Oak volleyball was led by a coach’s daughter that spent a large part of her life around sports.
Paige (Spangenberg) Baumert earned 17 letters in four sports during her high school career, but she’s probably best known for her volleyball accomplishments. That makes perfect sense, too, given she grew up in the same household as her mother Angie, a KMA Sports Hall of Fame coach.
“Both parents were coaches and growing up with two older brothers I was trying to keep up with them,” Baumert said. “I’d be at the gym non-stop during the school year or during the summer time. I was always around, looking up to older kids to kind of want to do what they were doing.”
Baumert was a three-time all-state choice in volleyball in 2003, 2004 and 2005 and pushed three teams to state tournaments during her career. She also played basketball, softball and tennis and earned Hawkeye Ten All-Conference honors 10 total times.
“I had some great coaches that really affected their athletes from the beginning at a young age to all the way through,” Baumert said. “I enjoyed all sports, and they all offered something different. Of course, I was very passionate about volleyball.”
Baumert went on to earn a Division I scholarship at Wichita State before transferring to Northwest Missouri State, where she went down as arguably the greatest libero in school history.
“We knew we had to be good passers (at Red Oak),” Baumert said. “Those were things that were built in us from day one, and we really focused on it. I understood the importance of it, so going to college at 5-foot-7, it was an opportunity to go after it and become the best passer I could for my team.”
All of Baumert’s success on the volleyball court (and elsewhere) dates back to her many years preparing for those moments.
“I remember just running around the gym with the volleyball girls and having fun,” she said. “I picked up on what they were doing. We’d usually be able to talk someone into peppering with me and developing those skills as much as possible.”
Baumert will officially join her mother in the KMA Sports Hall of Fame at a later date to be determined. Listen to the complete interview with Baumert linked below.
2020 KMA SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASS
