SPRINGDALE — Reagan Robinson admits this season she wasn’t asked to take on much of a leadership role for the Shiloh Christian volleyball team.

As a 5-foot-11 sophomore outside hitter, Robinson was more content to let the team’s three seniors handle the leadership responsibilities while she focused on slamming spike after spike over the net.

It was a role she fl ourished in, helping the Lady Saints roll unbeaten to the 5A-West Conference championship at 14-0 and advance three rounds deep in the Class 5A state volleyball tournament.

While Robinson was not the most vocal player on the court, her play spoke loudly. She finished the season with 301 kills, 261 digs and 34 aces, earning her the NWA Media Volleyball Newcomer of the Year award for schools in Class 5A and below.

Robinson looked up to the seniors on this year’s team, which rolled to a 26-7-1 record, and knows next season they will leave a big void to fi ll.

“It will be hard to replace these seniors because they played really big roles,” Robinson said. “We had a libero, setter and hitter that were all seniors, so just losing them it will be hard.”

The move down to Class 4A and the return of several key players will help smooth that transition.

“Next year will be a lot of work, but I feel like we can be pretty good,” she said. “But we have a lot of things to work on.”

Lady Saints coach Shyrah Schisler said the emergence of Robinson and several other younger players helped the team make some position changes that paid off big as the season progressed.

“Knowing what kind of player Reagan was coming in helped us decide to move Lauren (Brown) into a little different role,” Schisler said. “It made Lauren a lot better because she was able to run things that she knew she could run with her sets. And Reagan could go get them and go fi nd that ball. It was just really cool to see Reagan grow up and Lauren really lead in that aspect.”

Robinson said one of the things she wants to improve on next season is to be more of a vocal leader on the court.

“I want to be more of a leader and work harder and be more of an example and encourager,” she said. “That’s what I learned from Lauren and the other seniors that I want to carry on to next season.”