BELOIT—Hannah Welte and Elizabeth Kalk experienced the strangest sense of deja vu when they stepped onto the hardwood floor back in November of 2021.
And it wasn’t just because the Beloit College sophomores were lobbing passes to each other and teammate Addyson Ciochon once again.
No, it was because the trio were once again starting for a team that most outside observers marked as one that wouldn’t be good. A program that most doubted would see much success over the next few years.
“Coming in my freshman year with Hannah and Addyson our mentality was that we wanted to rebuild the program,” Kalk said. “We didn't want to just come here just to play together, we wanted to come here and make a difference.
“As a team, that’s what we've been working towards. We don't want to just win games, we want to win the important ones.”
The circumstances were a bit different when the trio became varsity starters on the Clinton High School girls basketball team.
“It was interesting because in high school we were a decent program, but then my sister (Hannah) and all of her friends were really good players,” Kalk continued. “And so when they graduated, everybody thought Clinton was going to be bad. But then we were all there to step up. It was the same mentality back then. We're going to do the little things right and do what we can.”
Hannah Kalk, now the head coach of the Cougars, teamed up with Kalli Kuhlow and Kelly Loudon to lead the program to a 57-37 record over four seasons.
Kalk started during her freshman season and by her sophomore season Welte and Ciochon had joined her. In just their sophomore year, they became the top three scorers on the squad. Clinton went 11-14 in their first season with the trio as starters before improving to 13-11 the next season and 17-7 in their final.
Kalk turned down the opportunity to play at UW-Parkside while Welte resisted noise from the University of Dubuque to keep the band together and play locally at Beloit College.
“We definitely came in like ‘Okay, we can play a part in rebuilding this program,” Welte said. “That was a big part of us coming here. We thought we could make a positive impact on this program.”
The Bucs hadn’t had a winning season either overall or in the Midwest Conference since 2008-09, when Don Adams coached the squad to a 15-9 record and a 12-4 mark in conference play.
And coming off a 3-22 season where it had just one MWC win, Beloit was anxious for the help.
But their freshman season never happened. The COVID-19 pandemic forced Beloit College to cancel all sporting seasons for the 2020-21 academic year.
“They hadn't officially canceled the season yet,” Welte said. “So, we were practicing for like two months and we were just so eager. Every day it was like, ‘Okay, are we going to get to play?’. So eventually when they were like, ‘Oh, we have to cancel this season,’ that was definitely heartbreaking.”
So, the trio were forced to wait until their sophomore season to get to work.
The Bucs went just 4-20 overall and finished winless in conference play that year under head coach Gloria Bradley, who left to take a position in the Dean of Students Office.
Natalie Miller took over and helped guide Beloit to an 8-17 record and a 4-12 finish in conference play.
This season has presented an even bigger jump.
With two games still to play, the Bucs are 10-13 overall and 7-7 amidst a battle for the final spot in the MWC Tournament.
“It’s a huge testament to our girls,” Miller said. “Our culture is in such a great spot. We have such a close knit team. They have fun together, and that bond off the court makes them so much better on the court.”
Ciochon graduated early having finished her collegiate career averaging around nine points and five rebounds per game.
“It's sad because then it would have been the three of us,” Kalk said.
Their relationship off the court has helped the duo be the two biggest impacts on the squad. 5-foot-10 Kalk, a big scorer from the paint who recently became just the 16th player in program history to go over 1,000 points, has averaged 14.5 points per game while adding nearly six rebounds and four assists each outing. 5-foot-3 Welte, a great defender and perimeter shooter, has sank 106 treys while averaging 11.3 ppg and 4 rpg.
“Hannah is one of my best friends, if not my best,” Kalk said. “It's just a great feeling to be able to know that I can trust her on and off the court and be able to find her.”
“I’ve learned her game and she knows my game,” Welte said. “ I know if she's driving to the basket and they collapse, she's going to find me. And I know if I'm on a three and they close out, I'm gonna hit her right back for a post up because she'll do that.”
Kalk and Welte have played together since the second grade and, with both athletes choosing not to come back for an extra season under the COVID eligibility rule, are now in the homestretch.
“It’s honestly been awesome,” Welte said. “20 years down the road, I'll still be so ecstatic that I was able to play with Liz for 15 years.”
A rollercoaster of a season that saw the Bucs fall to 3-10 on Jan. 3 before they won seven of their next 10 games hasn’t made a lot of time for reflection. Although, Welte took the opportunity at times.
“Every now and then I would say 'Hey, you know we only have like half a season left together,’” she said. “And then (Liz) will be like, 'Hey, stop. I don't want to cry right now.’ It's just now starting to really set in for both of us.”
But the pair is hoping to extend that time. Beloit (7-7 MWC) is in sixth behind Lawrence (8-7), who has one game left against first-place Ripon (13-1) and Grinnell (8-7), who play the Bucs on Wednesday before finishing against last-place Monmouth (0-14).
Beloit must beat both the Pioneers and Lake Forest (4-10) and hope the Vikings and Grinnell help them out by losing.
Should the Pioneers and the Bucs tie, the first tiebreaker — head-to-head winning percentage — would be of no use because that would be tied with the series split (Grinnell won 65-57 on Jan. 10). The tiebreakers after that would depend on other results across the conference.
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