BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
How good has the Keystone Heights High School volleyball program been in recent years?
If a Feb. 27 ceremony at the school’s gym was any indication, it has been pretty good. Seniors Riley Barry, Kori Jennings and Sarah Siebert signed letters of intent to play at the next level.
“It’s definitely a big moment, not only for them, but for our program,” said Kaitlyn Walker, who’s been the KHHS head coach the last three seasons. “I feel like Keystone volleyball has really been overlooked these past few years. We’ve definitely rebuilt our program — (Assistant Coach) Jordan (Jennings) and I have — and this is a prime example of what comes out of small Keystone. I can’t tell you the last time that three girls signed, and we have one more who’s possibly going to be signing.”
Jennings said it was a special moment. Plus, she was grateful for the turnout of supporters.
“It’s really cool,” Jennings said. “I’m glad there was a bunch of people who showed up. I didn’t think this many people would come.
“Just to be able to do this with my friends — I’m really thankful.”
Siebert, in talking about Barry and Jennings, said, “They’re like my best friends on the team. It was so nice we could have this opportunity together.”
Enterprise Boll Weevils getting 2 KHHS Indians
Two of the signees get to remain together as Barry and Jennings will both be going to Enterprise (Alabama) State Community College.
“I’m super happy I’m able to have someone who I know going up there with me so I’m not by myself,” Barry said. “We’ll get to room together and everything.”
Jennings said, “It’ll just be more comfortable, just the fact that I know somebody, and I’ll get to talk to her about things.”
The two players went to a camp at Enterprise and got to participate in a practice with the team. Jennings said Head Coach Vanessa Howell called her into her office afterward and gave her a bit of news she wasn’t expecting.
“She offered me,” Jennings said. “I was so shocked because I was expecting her to let us know later what she thought. I was super excited. Then she told me she was also offering Riley. That made me 10 times more excited because we get to go together.”
When she received the offer from Howell, Barry said she “was so overwhelmed and so happy.”
Barry, a front-row player, is coming off a season in which she led the team in blocks with 59 and was second in kills with 147. In four seasons, she had 130 blocks and 274 kills.
“I’m very excited and very grateful I’m able to play at the college level,” Barry said. “It’s literally all I’ve dreamed about since I started playing volleyball. I’m just grateful for all the coaches and everybody who’s helped me get here.”
Walker said Barry is a hard worker and someone who’s always positive, no matter what’s going on in a match.
“She was always encouraging her teammates, pushing them to be their very best,” Walker said. “She actually won the Coaches Award at our banquet because she really displayed throughout her senior year what it is to be a Keystone volleyball player.”
Barry said she envisions having to make a lot of improvements in her game in going from high school to college and plans on doing whatever it takes to get better.
She’s proven to be someone who’ll do whatever’s asked of her by coaches.
“She was able to play anywhere we put her,” Walker said. “Sometimes we had to have her pass in the back row. She would go back there, and you would think she was a libero she was passing so good.”
Barry said when she steps onto the court for the first time as an Enterprise Boll Weevil, she’ll be thinking, “Oh, my gosh. Hopefully, I don’t mess up.”
She’ll be looking forward to that moment, though.
“I’ll be very excited that they’d put me out there,” she said.
Walker has no doubt Barry will do just fine and end up being an asset for Enterprise.
“They are really lucky to have her,” Walker said. “I’m excited to see her grow even more as a player than she has already. I think that she is physically and mentally ready for college.”
Jennings proved to be an outstanding setter at Keystone. She recorded 221 assists as a freshman when she was sharing time with then senior Emily Loose. She had more than 300 as a sophomore, more than 400 as a junior and more than 500 as a senior, finishing her career with 1,592.
“She’s definitely made a name for herself,” Walker said.
The fact that Jennings’ assist totals increased every year speaks to the passion she has for the sport — a passion she said that some players lose by their junior or senior years.
“I just never got to that point,” Jennings said. “I’m honestly thankful that I haven’t.”
Because she never got tired of playing, she gets to make a dream come true.
“Ever since seventh grade, when I started playing volleyball, I’ve always wanted to go to college (to play),” Jennings said.
Walker said Enterprise is getting a strong team leader, which, of course, is important when you’re a team’s setter.
“Kori has been my captain since I started here for the last three years,” Walker said. “Her teammates love her for that. That just shows how selfless, how encouraging and how much of a teammate she is just by having your team vote for you for three years as captain.”
Jennings anticipates growing even more as a leader, while also adapting to a new team.
“In Keystone, I played with the same seven girls like all through my high school career, so it’s just meeting new people and learning more about them and their positions, where they want the ball and where I have to set them and stuff like that,” she said.
Walker believes Jennings can also be utilized as a right-side hitter, saying, “She’s very consistent when it comes to hitting right side. She also put up a pretty good block for being a little girl.”
Now that she’s officially a Boll Weevil, Jennings anticipates a mixture of emotions when she steps onto the court for the first time for Enterprise.
“Maybe a little nerve-wracking, but more exciting than anything,” she said.
Siebert is now a Cape Fear Sea Devil
Siebert, a front-row player, is taking her talents to Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, North Carolina. It’s quite an opportunity for someone who’s a relative newcomer to the sport when compared to others who get college opportunities.
“I’m just super excited,” Siebert said. “I started volleyball three years ago. It’s just really crazy to believe that I’ve worked hard enough to make it to the collegiate level.”
Siebert said all her friends played volleyball, so she figured she’d “give it a shot.” After recording 52 kills her first year, she was third on the team with 103 her junior season. She had a team-high 152 this past season.
She also finished her career with 145 blocks.
Walker said Siebert was like Barry in that she could be counted on to contribute wherever she was needed.
“Sarah was another one I could literally throw anywhere, and she would make the adjustment and make it happen,” Walker said.
Siebert displayed an impressive skill set, but she also demonstrated a passion for playing. She enjoys the wins and is there to pick her teammates up during the losses.
“Sarah loves the game. She reminds me of me when I was in high school,” said Walker, who played for the Indians herself. “You love the game so much, you get excited to win, and you get supportive when you lose. That’s what type of person Sarah is.”
It sounds as though Siebert couldn’t have found a better place to continue her volleyball career, saying, “The place I’m going is so beautiful. I just feel like I’m going to have a lot of fun and great opportunities.”
She also added that she likes the Cape Fear coaches as well as the players she met, describing them as “so nice and so sweet.”
In preparing to move up to the collegiate level, Siebert believes she has a lot of room for improvement due to the fact she’s played only three seasons, but she’s looking forward to growing as a player.
“It’s going to be good to learn and experience it at a different level,” she said.
