By Ken Hansard
At the time of this writing, the Chanute Comets are 23-10 on the season and 10-0 in league play and seated firmly in first place in the Southeast Kansas League (SEK) with two games remaining. Reece Norris, a senior libero for the Comets, is a large part of their success, “I see myself as the vocal leader for the team because, as a libero. I can see the entire court and talk to the hitters and blockers.”
While many kids grow up loving a sport and playing from an early age, Reece’s experience has been a bit different, “I really had no love for the game of volleyball. I never played as a kid, but when I was in middle school and all my friends were playing, I decided to give it a try and have loved it ever since.”
Despite all of Chanute’s success, Norris feels that they have yet to reach their peak, “We are a great team and play so well together. This year we definitely have a great opportunity to win sub-state and compete at state.”
Part of the maturation process for Chanute has been in the growth that Norris has demanded of herself, “I felt that, in the past, I was not being vocal enough on the court. I addressed that over the summer by playing with my team, and by going to team camps and open gyms.
Finally, prior to the season, Reece set a couple other goals for both herself and her team, in general, “Sometimes we tend to struggle with getting inside our own heads, and that leads us to turn one mistake into many. I set a goal for myself to have a better mentality going into the game and another goal of leaving everything on the court. I also think that I have learned to read the ball better this year, which translates to me making better passes, so my team can get more opportunities at the net.”
Besides volleyball, Reece also plays softball for the Comets. She is active in the school community and is a member of the prestigious National Honors Society and the Future Business Leaders of America.
After high school, Reece plans to attend Neosho County Community College to play softball.
