RIMERSBURG, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Amya Green shivered.
Goose bumps raised on her arms. Fingers chilled.
“It was cold in this gym,” said Green, a senior outside hitter for the North Clarion volleyball team before letting out a laugh. “It was freezing cold.”
So was Green and her teammates early against Union Monday night.
Icy cold.
Then Green heated up.
That’s not surprising. Green has been North Clarion’s go-to player this season.
Sure, Green is good at the net for the Wolves.
She has proven that throughout her career, especially this season with some big matches in crunch time.
Green, though, prides herself on being much more on the court. She gets kills, but also piles up the digs and serves and passes well.
“It’s fun. I like it because I feel like I help this team out a lot,” Green said. “I’m one of the leaders on this team, so it means a lot that I do all that and just help them.”
It wasn’t always that way for Green.
She started her career strictly as a net player, but last year began playing all the way around. She said she worked hard on developing her other volleyball skills.
“I never played back row until the 11th grade,” Green said. “It was kind of scary because I had never done it before. I didn’t want to mess up and hurt the team. I adapted to it and now it doesn’t seem that scary.”
Green has helped North Clarion put itself in position to make the playoffs for the first time in Green’s career.
The Wolves have been a scrappy team this season and have rallied from big deficits twice to steal wins in matches that seemed lost, first over A-C Valley two weeks ago and then again Monday night at Union to ruin the Damsels’ Senior Night.
Second-year North Clarion coach Isabelle Weaver said Green has been a big reason why the Wolves have been able to foster that kind of attitude.
Green optimizes it. She herself is a scrappy player, Weaver said.
“She’s been great for me,” Weaver said. “She’s one of my only people that pretty much never comes off the floor. She’s kind of that person that can do it all for me. Some are good at hitting. Some are good at passing. She can do it all for me.”
Green, though, won’t be doing it for much longer.
She made the decision recently to forgo playing in college to focus on her pursuit of a nursing degree at Clarion University.
These will be Green’s final matches. She’s very aware of that fact.
“It’s gonna stink because I love volleyball so much,” Green said. “I mean, it’s really going to stink, but college is going to be hard enough in nursing without volleyball.”
Green has tried to keep her emotions in check, but she admitted it’s been hard as the season has wound down.
“It’s giving me anxiety,” she said. “But it makes me happy I’ve had a good career.”
