KARNS CITY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — From the first day Haley Reed walked into a gym to play volleyball, she was a setter.
She had the knack.
(Pictured above, DuBois junior Haley Reed awaits a serve during a game against Karns City on Monday)
Reed’s skills have only improved. Her game has blossomed over the years and now a junior at DuBois, Reed is one of the best all around players in District 9.
“She makes a big difference for us,” said DuBois coach Jason Gustafson. “She’s always gonna be there and she’s always delivering a consistent ball. She’s one of the hardest working kids I’ve probably ever had and I’ve been coaching 15, 20 years.
“She’s just a perfectionist,” Gustafson added. “You put her in drills, it doesn’t matter what drill it is — it could be a hitting drill and she never gets to hit — and she wants to make it right every time.”
When Reed is setting, it usually is right.
Every time.
Reed was at it again on Monday night at Karns City with 30 more assists on a big night at the net all the way around for the Beavers.
Junior Ava Baronick and senior Morgan Pasternak each had double-digit kill efforts in the 25-11, 25-11, 25-16 sweep in the annual Pink Out game, which took on a special meaning.
DuBois wore purple and gold Mason Strong shirts and helped raise $1,300 for the Martin family.
Mason Martin is still recovering from serious injuries sustained in a game on Sept. 1 in a Pittsburgh hospital.
On the court, with a little crow hop and a flick of Reed’s fingers, the ball was set up on a tee for DuBois.
“It’s really nice. Haley works really hard,” Pasternak said. “She’s like all over the court all the time. We’re really lucky to have her as a setter.”
In Reed’s early days of volleyball, she wanted to be an outside hitter.
That just wasn’t in the cards. Setter was her thing and she has done it well.
Reed rarely takes any time off from playing volleyball.
“It’s pretty much year round,” she said, smiling.
The times when she does step away from the volleyball court, she’s digging cleats into the dirt on a softball diamond. She excels at that sport, too.
But in August, Reed broke two fingers sliding into home during a game, threatening her volleyball season. The injury forced her to miss the first three weeks of the campaign.
(Reed)
Reed returned as if she had never left.
“It wasn’t that bad,” Reed said, smiling and wiggling the very important digits that she had broken. “They healed up and I’m as good as new.”
Reed is also exceptional on the serve and had three aces against Karns City.
Reed added the little hop as she sets this season after watching a lot of college volleyball setters perfect the same technique.
She wanted to elevate her game even more. The little spring helps with timing, as well as adds a bit of deception.
“I think it levels my game up because it makes it harder for the blockers to predict where I’m going with the ball,” said Reed, who is also adept at setting the ball behind her with precision. “We work on in it at practice. All day. Two hours.”
The hard work is important to Reed and her teammates because the bar is set very high at DuBois.
The Beavers have won six consecutive District 9 titles and they will be gunning for a seventh one soon in Class 3A.
DuBois is well on its way with an 11-1 record. The only loss came against Clarion.
(Morgan Pasternak)
With a long string of titles comes pressure.
“There definitely is,” Pasternak said. “But I’m proud of our team. We work really hard to maintain that goal every year. I think we do a good job working hard to get that.”
“I mean, we’ve been working hard since June,” Reed added. “We’re in the gym almost every day. I have confidence we will be fine, that we’re going to take another championship run.”
For Gustafson, he has been more than pleased with how his team has played heading into the home stretch.
“Last year we probably had one of the best groups I’ve ever had over the years,” he said. “We lost some really talented kids, so I think the kids were a little bit nervous coming in. They just didn’t know how well they would mesh together, how well they would do. But, thankfully, as the season has progressed, we’ve seen a lot of improvement in different facets of the game. I think they realize they’re playing better than maybe they expected.
“It’s encouraging and exciting,” Gustafson said, smiling. “Their confidence is building, which is awesome to see.”
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