It did not matter whether it was on the volleyball or basketball court, success and Chandra (Hensley) Steers went together.

A 1999 graduate of Salem Community High School, Steers was a four-year member of the Lady Wildcats volleyball program and a three-year starter. During that three-year run from 1996-98 Steers helped Salem compile records of 26-7, 31-5 and 32-3. Those squads won the North Egypt Conference crown each season, three regional titles and the program’s first sectional championship in 1997. Steers was an NEC Second Team selection for the 1997 and 1998 teams.

While Steers had a solid volleyball career at Salem, she elevated her game even more when she moved on to Parkland Community College in Champaign. That success began in the fall of 1999 when she helped Parkland compile a 54-9 record that ended with the NJCAA Division II national championship. With Steers up front at the net, the Lady Cobras made a return trip to the national tournament in 2001 where Parkland took home a sixth-place finish and a 45-15 record. Steers, who was one of the top blockers in the country, was a big reason for that trip to the national tournament as she was a Midwest Athletic Conference First Team selection and a member of the All-Region 24 First Team. Steers was rewarded for her success at Parkland when she was inducted into that school’s Hall of Fame in 2007. Steers transferred to Eastern Illinois University for her junior and senior volleyball seasons. During her time at that school Steers received the school’s ROTC Leadership Award in 2002 and was a member of the Ohio Valley Conference All-Academic Team in 2003.

Besides her accomplishments on the volleyball court, Steers was also a key contributor to the 1998-99 Lady Wildcats basketball team that went 28-3, won the NEC championship with a perfect 14-0 record and reached the Class AA Elite Eight. Steers, who was an NEC Honorable Mention selection that season, led Salem to its first regional championship when she poured in a career high 28 points in a 78-51 victory over Chatham Glenwood. She averaged 8.7 points per game that campaign, was the team’s third-leading rebounder and was one of its best free throw shooters at 73 percent.

Steers did not stay away from athletic competition for long after her playing days ended as she entered the coaching field in 2004 as the head volleyball coach at Macon-Meridian High School. She later served as head volleyball coach at Mahomet-Seymour High School where her team won a Class 3A regional championship in 2015. Steers has had assistant volleyball coaching stints at Parkland College, Blue Ridge High School and Mahomet-Seymour Junior High School. Steers has also coached multiple seasons for PrimeTime VBC, a club volleyball team based in Champaign.

At the time of her induction into the SCHS Sports Hall of Fame Steers resided in Mahomet where she was a certified surgical technologist at Gibson Area Hospital.

Already a member of the Salem Sports Hall of Fame as a player on the 1977 Lady Wildcats volleyball team, Mary (Pitts) Brimberry earned individual selection through a stellar coaching career at South Central High School.

At the time of her induction, Brimberry had spent 23 seasons on the sideline as the Lady Cougars volleyball coach. Brimberry began her stint in 1994 and during her coaching run she has compiled a record of 547-177, a highly impressive .756 winning percentage. Her teams have compiled 17 20-win seasons, three 30-win seasons, and ten Class A/Class 1A regional championships. Her 2004 team won a school record 34 games, while her 2011 team won the program’s first sectional championship and advanced to the Class 1A Elite Eight. Prior to the school’s move to the National Trail Conference, Brimberry’s teams won nine Midland Trail Conference regular season championships and ten MTC Tournament titles. Only once in those 23 years with Brimberry at the helm has South Central had a losing season.

Brimberry has also been a winner off the court as she overcame a battle with cancer that forced her to miss the 2014 volleyball season. She returned to the court in 2015.
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While it was basketball that proved to be her ticket to college, it was also her excellence in volleyball that made Danette (Jones) Wolfe a multi-sport standout athlete at Salem Community High School.

A 2001 SCHS graduate, Wolfe had to wait two years for a talented senior class that won 63 games during that span to crack the Lady Wildcats lineup. Once she got her chance as a junior in the 1999 season, the middle hitter was named the North Egypt Conference Most Valuable Player Award. Besides her individual honor, Wolfe helped Salem compile a 25-7 record to along with an NEC and Class AA regional championship. Wolfe won another NEC MVP Award in volleyball during her senior season in 2000, as she helped the Lady Wildcats put together a 22-6 record and another NEC title.

Although Wolfe also had to wait until her junior season to crack the Salem starting lineup in basketball, she proved to be a valuable sixth man as a sophomore for the 1998-99 Lady Wildcats squad that went 28-3, won the NEC championship and advanced tot he Class AA Elite Eight. Jones averaged 8.2 points per game as a sophomore and earned NEC Honorable Mention status. Wolfe proved to be an early threat from long range, as her 38.5 percentage from three-point territory (25-65) ranked ninth best in school history at the time of her induction. She also qualified for state competition in the Country Financial Three-Point Shot competition.
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Megan Grizzle Kessler was an outstanding three sport athlete all four years of her tenure at SCHS. She was voted 1st team NEC Volleyball in 1997 and second team all NEC in 1998. In track she was a member of the 1997 indoor 3200M Relay record setting team. Megan was the 1998 Robert Raver Outstanding Field Athlete and in 1999 she made a shot put throw of 37’5″ which stands as the 5th best throw in Lady Wildcat Track history.

In basketball she was the 9th female in school history to score over 1,000 career points and started every game all four years of her basketball career. She was 1st team NEC in 1997 and 1998 and was awarded the NEC Co-MVP in 1999. She was voted the team MVP in 1998 and 1999. Megan was a part of the 28-3 Elite 8 team in 1999 and was given AP All State Honorable Mention in 1999.

Megan then played her college basketball at SIUE and there she made a NCAA Division II Tourney appearance in 2001. After graduating from SIUE she became a SCHS faculty member and coach. Megan coached girls track for five years and is currently coaching girl’s basketball and golf.

Megan has been previously inducted into the Hall of Fame as a member of the 1999 Girls Basketball Team and the 1999 Girls Volleyball Team.

Returning all but two players from a school-record breaking performance in 1997, the 1998 Salem Lady Wildcats Volleyball team etched their own chapter in the school’s record book.

Salem’s 32-3 mark broke the 1997 team’s school record for wins by a team and the Lady Wildcats were undefeated against Illinois competition until their final game.

The first of two regular season tournament championships for Salem came at Carbondale, as the Lady Wildcats went 5-0 to claim the top spot. Salem won its pool by beating Carlyle, Sparta and Carbondale and finished things off by beating Sparta again in the semifinal round and Freeburg in three sets in the championship match. Senior Audrey Husk was selected to the all-tournament team.
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The 1997 Salem Lady Wildcats Volleyball team went where no team in the program’s history had ever gone before and no team has made it that far since at the time of their induction into the Salem High School Sports Hall of Fame.

Returning a large nucleus from the 1996 team that won 26 games and was a sectional finalist, the 1997 Lady Wildcats smashed the school record for wins in a season by going 31-5 and advanced to the Class AA Sweet 16.

All four regular season losses came during tournament play. Salem was third at the Carbondale Tournament beating Marion, Mt. Carmel and St. Jacob Triad (twice), but fell in the semifinals to eventual champ Belleville Althoff.
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