Former HC Volleyball Star Schaben to Be Inducted in IGHSAU Hall of Fame Thursday

Former HC Volleyball Star Schaben to Be Inducted in IGHSAU Hall of Fame Thursday -

(UPDATED 10-30-23) – Former Harlan Community sports star Jess Schaben Lansman will be one of three inductees into the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Volleyball Hall of Fame this fall.

"It is such an awesome honor," Schaben told KNOD Sports in an exclusive interview. "Super excited for Harlan and our team. It's not only an award for myself but our team is what got us there, so it's really exciting."

Schaben graduated from Harlan Community in 2015, where she led the Cyclones to state volleyball titles in 2013 and 2014. She was a 3-time first team All-State selection, 2-time Class 4A Player of the Year, and 4-time first team All-Conference selection.

It's a time that she's reminded of often.

"I look back with such fond memories of those years playing high school. Now that I'm coaching high school volleyball, I think about it all the time just because I think back to what we did as a team because it was just so much fun."

After attending Iowa State, she’s since moved to Blair, NE, and coaches the Rivers City Juniors beach volleyball program while her husband teaches at Blair Community High School.

Schaben distinguished herself at Iowa State, being named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year and Midwest Freshman of the Year in 2015, All-Big 12 first team in 2016, 2017, & 2018, and 3-time All-American Honorable Mention. Schaben finished her time with ISU Cyclones as one of only five players in school history to record 1000 kills and 1000 digs, while being 4th all-time in school history with 1548 kills.

She finished up her volleyball playing career for the LSU beach volleyball team in 2020 & 2021 reaching the NCAA Semifinals her final year.

The other 2023 IGHSAU Volleyball Hall of Fame inductees are Mikaela Foecke Richter of Holy Trinity and Briana Weber of Dike-New Hartford.

For Schaben, passing along the lessons she learned during her time at Harlan Community is what the Blair (NE) High School coach allows her to keep those days close in mind.

"I think having a good relationship with your teammates is for sure No. 1 and just like caring for each other on and off the court. I think we did that well in Harlan and I think Coach (Angie) Spangenberg really hit that hard with us."

The induction ceremony will take place during the State High School Volleyball Championship finals at Xtreme Arena in Iowa City on, Thursday, November 2nd.

View past scores by visiting the Iowa High School Athletic Association's website, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union website,
or Iowa Quik Stats