Before the age of 13, Alexa Davis had no interest in volleyball. She tried every sport you could imagine from softball to gymnastics, but none of them stuck. However, one day in seventh grade she decided to pick up a volleyball and she has had a passion for the game ever since. “The sport came naturally to me,” she said. “I really enjoyed the explosiveness and the quickness of the game.”

Since then she has put in countless hours of practice and hard work in order to become the best player she can possibly be. As she enters the final stages of her high school career, all of her hard work is beginning to payoff.

Over the summer, she attended USA Volleyball’s High Performance training (HPV) in Colorado, where she made the A2 division, the second highest team possible. The training is a step towards the Olympic team. It is for athletes who aspire to reach an elite level and is intended to create a pool of excellent players who may someday compete for a spot on a national team.  She was one of 200 girls to make the training after a series of tryouts.

She was the only one from Kentucky.

Even though she may have been the only girl from Kentucky at the training, she wasn’t frightened. In fact, one of her favorite parts about the trips was making new friends. “I got to meet so many new people,” she said, “There were girls from New York to Hawaii there. They were from all over the country.” 

The experience in Colorado is one she will never forget not just because of the many people she was able to meet or the fact that she lost her luggage at one point, but because of how much she grew as a player. “I was the only one on my team not committed to a division one school, so I definitely had to push myself to play my very best,” she said.

Not only did she have success in Colorado, but she had immense success at home with Greenwood High School’s volleyball team. Alexa was part of the all-district team, all-region team, 2016 state all-tournament team, and honorable mention all-state team.

The team as a whole ended their season after a deep run in the state tournament with a record of 32 wins and just nine losses. They finished their season ranked 11th in the state.

The team had tremendous success this season, but in order to reach that success they had to leap over many hurdles. One of those hurdles was South Warren High School. They had lost to South Warren three times that season before the regional tournament. Twice in regular season play and once in the finals of the district tournament. The team had a 14-match losing streak against South Warren that they had to break if the team wished to continue to the state tournament, which would be no easy task.

“We knew we could beat South Warren, but the first time we weren’t mentally ready,” Alexa said, “We ended up changing our defense and our lineup in order to outsmart South.” That game, Greenwood won their first region title since 2012 and ended up with a 4-1 victory over South. Alexa had a huge double-double with 20 kills and 13 digs for the match. She added two blocks and one assist to help the Lady Gators win the Championship. This was a huge step forward for the team as they entered the state tournament where they finished in the final eight.

After the successful season, Greenwood has a lot to follow up on. The team has much higher goals in mind for the future and as Alexa returns as a senior for this next season, she must help guide the team. “Mainly I’m going to have to fill in for Zoe, Leah, and Brittany, the seniors, and their roles that they had this season. Our goals for this coming year are to keep going and keep winning. I hope to help lead the team in doing that,” Alexa said.

The Greenwood team may have large goals in mind for their future, but so does Alexa. She hopes to continue to work extremely hard and play for a school in college. She is on the right path to doing just that as she is verbally committed to Kentucky Wesleyan College.

She has worked for a long time to get where she is now as a player and hopes to continue improving. In order to continue improving and stay on a path towards college she says, “You have to get out of Bowling Green. Go to Colorado and go to other places. Put yourself out there and make yourself known. Most of all, you have to act like you want it.”