WAVERLY, Neb. – Gracie and Hallie Lauenstein have grown up together on a volleyball court.
The twin sisters have laughed, smiled, cried and seemingly everything in between over the years, and they’ve developed quite the bond along the way. It’s a bond neither would trade or change, and it’s certainly one they cherish.
“We love playing with each other,” Gracie told Hurrdat Sports. “We always push each other in practice and our biggest competition is just playing against each other in practice. It’s really good and it’s really fun to see each other grow throughout all the years.”
The Lauensteins are two of the 11 seniors on Waverly’s varsity roster, and the Vikings hope to ride that experience to a deep postseason run.
Class B No. 3 Waverly is currently 12-4 and is coming off arguably its most impressive win of the season Thursday night — a 3-0 sweep of No. 2 Gretna.
The Vikings won the three sets 25-23, 25-21 and 25-16 respectively, putting together what head coach Terri Neujahr called a clean and complete effort. Neujahr’s club had dropped three of its previous five matches.
The Lauensteins played a key role, as they have all season. Hallie led Waverly with 18 kills, while Gracie followed with 11. The two have 323 combined kills this fall, along with 271 digs — 17 of which came on Thursday. Gracie had 10 of those digs for her fifth double-double of the season.
“I think we just played super consistent,” Hallie said. “We were all just playing together and super free, and very confident.”
Hallie remembers hitting balls around the house or yard at a young age, and volleyball has always been a staple for the family.
Their older sister, Whitney, starred at Waverly (2018-21) before a college career that’s included time at Nebraska, Texas and Penn State, where she’s currently a graduate student.
Gracie and Hallie first played organized volleyball together around 8, which led to club volleyball and eventually high school. Hallie plans to continue playing collegiately at the University of South Carolina Upstate.
They’ve created countless memories and feed off each other’s presence, knowing they can lean on each other in good times and bad. They’re both outside hitters, too.
Wavery senior Gracie Lauenstein elevates to take a swing against Gretna. Photo by Eli Larson.
“We always push each other in practices and just make each other better each day,” Hallie said. “It’s really helpful to have another me on the court just to play with her. (She’s) holding me accountable and always lifting me up, and giving me confidence.”
“We just really trust each other a lot,” Gracie added. “We have a really good connection.”
That connection and confidence are constantly on display, and it’s become infectious throughout Waverly’s senior class.
Neujahr remembers seeing the Laurensteins as freshmen and lauded their growth as players, people and leaders to where they are now.
“They just are super steady and things don’t phase them very much,” Neujahr said. “They can pass like crazy, they can pinpoint serves, their blocking is really good — they’re just really great all-around players. And their leadership is one of the biggest things that (shows) their value to the team.”
At the end of the day, they’re still sisters, too.
“I can’t say that sometimes in practice there’s not some sisterly love or ribbing and teasing,” Neujahr quipped. “They kind of go after each other in practice, especially when they’re on opposite sides of the net. They kinda try and maybe smoke the other person, so that stuff happens, and that’s super fun to see. Not just for them, but for the whole team, because they really get into it. But you can tell their love for each other and the support for each other is really off the charts.”
The Vikings will play in the Aurora Volleyball Tournament this Saturday, followed by their final five regular-season contests, and the Vikings hope to make their way to Lincoln in November.
Yet no matter how many games the Lauensteins have left together, they plan to make the most of their time on the court.
“We’re gonna cherish it a lot,” Hallie said. “We’re all seniors and I’m not gonna play volleyball with my sister again, so we’re definitely gonna cherish it and just make the most of our experience together.”
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