She’s a Hawk now. But Kiely White may be a Penguin, Maverick or
Saint in the near future.
She’s a Hawk now. But Kiely White may be a Penguin, Maverick or Saint in the near future.
White, a senior outside hitter for Anzar High, is being courted by the Penguins of Dominican College in San Rafael, the Mavericks of Mesa State University in Colorado, and the Saints of Marymount University in Virginia. Dominican has already come up with a $15,000 athletic offer.
White, a 3.9 GPA student entering the 2002-03 school year, is waiting for a possible academic offer from the Penguins, as well.
“It’s an expensive school,” said White.
At six feet, she would be the tallest player on the current Saints squad, would be equal to any current Penguin, and would be tied for the second tallest Maverick at Mesa State.
For the last four varsity seasons, White has been sizing up the opposition at a frenetic pace. She owns every school hitting record. In 12 games in the month of October, White had 183 kills, an average of 15.3 kills per match. It is not uncommon to see White lead the team in digs or blocks. She can even set, having set her first year on club.
She made the switch from playing middle blocker to outside hitter because of the Hawks need.
“Kiely gives us two outside hitters with Leanna Hardy being the other one,” said Hawks head coach Tamara Smith. “She’s passing 100 per cent better than she did before this season. She’s our No. 1 player, but all the rest of the team has stepped up, too.”
“I’ve been passing better, but that’s the main thing I have to improve on,” said White. “Hitting and blocking are what I do best.”
An integral part of White’s success the past two years has been the addition of setter Gena Ray.
“Gena has helped this team so much,” said White. “I can’t even imagine where we’d be without her.”
Ray said White’s position switch took time to gel.
“It was difficult at first,” said Ray. “I liked setting her in the middle and then I had to switch and get the ball to her on the outside.”
White quite possibly could be playing her last game as a Hawk tonight. Anzar (22-11, 10-5 Mission Trail Athletic League) wraps up the regular season at home against Pacific Grove. The Hawks must win, then sweat out Saturday’s seeding meeting to see if they qualify for the Central Coast Section Division V playoffs.
“It will be disapointing if we didn’t get in,” said White. “This is my senior year and I wanted everything to be perfect.”
Last season, the Hawks made it in to CCS for the first time ever, losing in five games to D-V runner-up Redwood Christian.
White was selected to the MTAL First Team the past two years. A First Team selection this year is a given. As a freshman on the Hawks basketball team, she was All-MTAL, as well.
“I stopped playing basketball because it interferred with club volleyball,” said White.
White first began playing volleyball when she was in the sixth grade at Aromas School.
“They didn’t have enough to field a seventh-grade team, so they opened it up to sixth graders,” White said. “I liked it right away. It was fun and a new experience.”
She continued on with the seventh and eighth grade teams. When it was time to go to high school, she knew she was going to Anzar, instead of a much bigger school with a more proven volleyball program – Hollister High.
“I didn’t even think about going to Hollister,” said White. “I knew that I lived in Anzar’s district. I don’t regret coming here.”
She had already been indoctrinated into the ways of club volleyball when she was in eighth grade.
“I learned so much,” said White. “About rotations, overhand serve, my hitting approach.”
She has continued to play club ball with Quicksilver of San Jose. She’s trying out for the 18-and under Quicksilver team next weekend.
White has to be a busy lady. She works two part-time jobs – at a tanning salon in Watsonville and at an ice cream parlor in San Juan Bautista. When she’s not doing that, she’s spending time with her boyfriend, J.P. Holcomb.
Hardy will be back next year, as will sophomore middle blocker Treva Crocker, who has some of White’s physical attributes.
“I’ve kind of idolized Kiely,” said Crocker. “She’s helped me out the last two years. It will be tough to fill her spot next year. Kiely’s leaving is definitely a big loss for the team.”
“It’s been a fun experience playing with Kiely,” said teammate Cassie King, who transferred in at the beginning of the year. “At practices, she was so nice to me. She made me feel welcome right away.”
White will be missed at Anzar next year. In fact, there may not be another player of her caliber ever. Someone should put a plaque on the Hawks gymnasium wall.
It could be engraved “Kiely’s Kill Korner”
