As the final home volleyball game draws near, senior outside hitter Kiera James’ volleyball career will live on with her division one level commitment to play at Southern Illinois University.
James’ four years on DGS varsity volleyball and participation in First Alliance Club Volleyball have led to her recruitment to play volleyball at the D1 level.
With 226 kills, 48 aces and 171 digs during just this DGS volleyball season, James has some of the best statistics on the team.
As a captain, James’ has a lot of responsibilities and “the team counts on her a lot more than they maybe did when she was in club season,” DGS girls varsity volleyball coach Trisha Kurth said.
Junior outside hitter Sydney White describes James’ captain abilities as “unlike any other captain I’ve ever had before. She doesn’t make it seem like it’s all about her. …show more content…
James started playing school volleyball in seventh grade solely because her friends played.
She never imagined she would play volleyball all four years of high school, let alone have a division one level commitment for the sport. “ Playing D1 has always been a dream, but I thought it was going to end up being for basketball,” James said.
Volleyball has had some unforeseen benefits, “ I used to be really to myself but now I see that I am more of a leader not just on the court, but in everyday life as well” James said. It isn’t always fun and games, practice is five to six days a week and there are tournaments almost every weekend.“ It’s been really overwhelming. You put in way more work then people see. It’s just hard to balance everything” James said.
Skill wise, “Honestly she was one of the worst volleyball players I had ever seen [in eighth grade], but to see her progress and then being a starter on varsity her sophomore year is so inspiring. I mean, anyone is going to want to hit 10-foot line just like Kiera” White
James’ four years on DGS varsity volleyball and participation in First Alliance Club Volleyball have led to her recruitment to play volleyball at the D1 level.
With 226 kills, 48 aces and 171 digs during just this DGS volleyball season, James has some of the best statistics on the team.
As a captain, James’ has a lot of responsibilities and “the team counts on her a lot more than they maybe did when she was in club season,” DGS girls varsity volleyball coach Trisha Kurth said.
Junior outside hitter Sydney White describes James’ captain abilities as “unlike any other captain I’ve ever had before. She doesn’t make it seem like it’s all about her. …show more content…
James started playing school volleyball in seventh grade solely because her friends played.
She never imagined she would play volleyball all four years of high school, let alone have a division one level commitment for the sport. “ Playing D1 has always been a dream, but I thought it was going to end up being for basketball,” James said.
Volleyball has had some unforeseen benefits, “ I used to be really to myself but now I see that I am more of a leader not just on the court, but in everyday life as well” James said. It isn’t always fun and games, practice is five to six days a week and there are tournaments almost every weekend.“ It’s been really overwhelming. You put in way more work then people see. It’s just hard to balance everything” James said.
Skill wise, “Honestly she was one of the worst volleyball players I had ever seen [in eighth grade], but to see her progress and then being a starter on varsity her sophomore year is so inspiring. I mean, anyone is going to want to hit 10-foot line just like Kiera” White