All-American Girl
The storied West Holmes High School volleyball program got another feather in its cap Monday, Nov. 29, when it was announced that former Lady Knights middle-hitter, and current Wheeling Jesuit senior, Keysha Allison was named a 2010 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II third-team All-American, making her the first West Holmes volleyball player to ever attain All-America status.The 5-foot-10-inch Allison led the Lady Cardinals to a 35-3 record in 2010 and an appearance in the DII Atlantic Regional semifinal match, while playing setter and right side hitter, and serving as a second-year team captain for Wheeling Jesuit head coach Christy Benner.
Behind Allison – who totaled 870 assists on the year and smashed home 270 kills – the Cardinals won the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) regular season and tournament titles, while the Millersburg native also earned first-team All-Atlantic Region and first-team All-WVIAC honors during the final season of her collegiate career.
After learning of her All-America selection, one of the first contacts the 2009 WVIAC Player of the Year made was to her former high school coach, and current West Holmes head volleyball coach Jim Park, whom she credited for helping make all of her accomplishments on the court possible.
“He [Park] really, really motivated me and taught me how to be a better player,” said Allison in between classes on the campus of the only Catholic university in the state of West Virginia. “College was not going to be an option for me without volleyball.”
“In junior high we took her aside and explained to her, you can play in college for free if you’re interested, and you do the things we tell you to do, and you work hard at it,” said Park. “And without question, nobody ever outworked her.”
During her four years at West Holmes, the 2006 graduate helped lead the Lady Knights to two State Final Four appearances (2004, 2006) and one State championship match (2006), earning first-team All-State, All-District and All-Ohio Cardinal Conference recognition during both her junior and senior years.
Allison still holds the West Holmes school record for kills in a single match, blasting 28 against Mansfield Madison in 2006, despite the fact, as Park explained, “The whole gym knew the ball was going to her, and it didn’t matter.”
That kind of play on the court certainly inspired others, including current West Holmes senior Lindsy Snyder, who said, “I watched her when I was in eighth grade and it made me want to be like her. We played the same position, so I tried to do the same things as her. When you think of West Holmes volleyball middle-hitters the first one that comes to mind is Keysha Allison.”
Emulating her role model certainly paid off for Snyder who recently wrapped up her West Holmes career as the school’s all-time single-season kills leader (362), and is now also being recruited to play volleyball at Wheeling Jesuit by Benner.
The incredible work ethic, determination to succeed and competitive spirit that makes Allison a revelation to people like Snyder comes from the inspiration she gets from her 18-year-old brother Dylan, who has battled heart and other serious health conditions since birth, enduring some amazingly complicated surgical procedures over the years as well.
“Knowing he would give anything just to play one down on a football field, but he can’t because of his health, it just makes me work that much harder,” said Allison, who is finishing up her degree in elementary education with an emphasis on special education, in hopes of working with children like her brother someday.
“Dylan is the apple of her eye, he really is,” explained Benner. “She just adores him and I know she wants to do well and make sure he’s taken care of and that he is proud of her.
“She has a giant family and they all come and support her,” added the 10th-year Wheeling Jesuit coach.
And that is another driving force behind Allison’s unwavering will to succeed on and off the court – the support of her extensive family, which includes her mother Ty, who lives in Albuquerque, N.M. with Dylan, and her father Kyle, who moved from Millersburg to Mansfield not long ago.
“I think I went three or four times [to watch her play] this year,” said Park. “I wanted to make sure I made it to her Senior Night. She had at least 50 people there just to watch her. Family and friends, I mean they were everywhere.”
But whether it comes from her brother, her family and friends or somewhere else deep inside, the competitive will to succeed has served Allison well.
“If anyone deserves this award it’s Keysha,” said Benner. “She wanted this. She worked her butt off this year and every year. If I had 20 Keysha Allisons, it would make my job a whole lot easier.
“She never gives up. She goes after every play and I think that’s how she is in her life too. I expect her to move on and do great things.”
Comparing the end of her volleyball career to “breaking up with a boyfriend after 15 years,” Allison said she would like to coach high school volleyball at some point down the road – something the two people who have coached her over the past eight years have no doubt she will be very successful with.
“She’s going to be a great coach if that’s what she decides to do,” said Benner, while Park added, “She could have coached in high school, when she was in high school, easily. She could have been a high school coach in high school. Not many kids can do that.”
But for now Allison would like to spend some time traveling and exploring the country while keeping all of her options open.
As for Benner, who loses not only a team leader but also a dear friend to graduation next spring, she said simply, “She’s a great kid and we’ll miss her a lot.”