OUR ATHLETE OF THE WEEK COMMUNITY PARTNER
Each week, Monitor staff selects and interviews a local Athlete of the Week. Learn more about their accomplishments, their goals and what makes them unique. We’d like to thank our sponsor Capital City Kia.
Our partners do not participate in the selection of these athletes. That is fully at the discretion of our journalists.
Concord High senior volleyball captain and middle blocker Olive Kelley reached 100 blocks against Alvirne last week.
Kelley is part of a front zone that has raised its level compared to last year. The Tide volleyball team is 5-3 to date and making a push for the Division I playoffs.
Despite playing right-side hitter for her club team, Kelley has stepped up in the middle for Concord. The team’s success in great part is thanks to Kelley’s blocking, versatility and ability to keep pressure off the back zone.
As we do each week, the first question for this week’s Athlete of the Week will be posed by the previous participant: Nate Wallace from Merrimack Valley’s football team.
Q: How do you overcome the pressure when it comes to competition?
A: The best way I overcome the pressure is just by breaking it down and really thinking about everything I need to do to give my team the best shot at winning.
Q: You reached 100 career blocks recently. Did you know you were close to the milestone?
A: At the beginning of this season my coach had made me aware that I was about 20 or so blocks away from this milestone. But until about an hour before the Pinkerton game I was unaware that I only needed one more block to seal the deal and reach this huge milestone.
Q: What does it mean to you to achieve this goal?
A: It means a lot for me because I look back at my freshman-year self playing and it just reminds me of how hard I’ve worked to get to the point I’m at now. I am very grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to play and to grow as much as I have.
Q: What’s one thing you wish more people knew about volleyball?
A: One thing I wish more people knew about volleyball is that there is no part that can be done alone. Not one single person is responsible for any given point. This is really important to think about when we talk about records being broken because none of the record can be accomplished alone.
Q: Each point in volleyball is crucial — how do you stay focused from point to point, rotation to rotation, set to set?
A: I think the best way I stay focused from point to point is by breaking it all down and remembering that volleyball is a game of mistakes, and the most important thing you can do is take a deep breath and reset. My favorite way to reset myself between points is to think about what the error I made was and figure out what I could have done differently for a better outcome.