CALEDONIA — The story of how Camryn Johnson became a setter is as simple as she makes the complex position seem.
During her elementary school days, Johnson was playing volleyball for the first time with a club team coached by former Mississippi State player and coach Tina Seals. Seals needed someone to play setter, so she started out Johnson’s volleyball career at the position.
Now a senior at Caledonia High School, Johnson has never played anywhere else.
“It’s her,” Caledonia coach Samantha Brooks said. “It’s what she does. It’s ‘Camryn the setter.'”
This year, Johnson hasn’t once strayed from her position, but she’s taken on myriad roles within it.
Brooks said Johnson, who’s totaled 242 digs this season, has become “Camryn the defender” as well. But she’s also Camryn the passer, who averages 6.8 assists per set. Camryn the blocker, who even took some reps blocking the middle at Wednesday’s practice. Camryn the server, who can deliver consistent serves and occasional aces. Camryn the attacker, who can get a kill when her team needs one. Camryn the leader, who never lets her team get down after a point slips away.
“She’s the whole package,” Brooks said.
‘The sky is the limit’
Johnson has passed and dug and blocked and attacked and led Caledonia (25-7) to a perfect 10-0 mark in Class 4A, Region 2. The Confederates boast wins over Tupelo and Starkville this season, and they even kept it reasonably close against Jackson Academy, the state’s top team, averaging 17 points per set despite a straight-set loss.
The regular season ended Tuesday for the ‘Feds with a sweep of Itawamba Agricultural, but there’s more work to be done. Caledonia hosts Corinth, the Region 1 runner-up, at 6 p.m. today in the first round of the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs.
“We’re gonna have to stay mentally sound and play our game,” Brooks said. “If we play our game, the sky is the limit with this team. They are absolutely amazing.”
Caledonia’s success is due in part to the close relationships among its players, particularly a senior class that is seven strong. Johnson, Tori Brooks, Ansley Brown, Maddy Suggs and Olivia Boykin have gained experience and familiarity in club play during the offseason.
“You get to play with different girls,” Johnson said. You can play with you bunch of other teams that are really good. You see different competition. It’s gonna help your team and the girls that don’t get to play club.”
Playing under Seals, who was inducted into MSU’s hall of fame last month, certainly doesn’t hurt, either.
“Tina is just an amazing person,” Brooks said. “She’s very professional. She has a great depth of volleyball knowledge, and she has just tremendously helped the growth of volleyball in Mississippi. That, in turn, helps all of us.”
Seals’ teachings have given the ‘Feds speed and fluidity with the ball on their side of the court — even if Johnson, Caledonia’s catalyst, is taken out of the play.
“We always have somebody else who’s gonna back me up, and we’re gonna get the kill,” Johnson said.
‘Volleyball brings us together’
The ‘Feds do consistently play cohesively as a team, something Brooks said comes down to the experience her players have and the trust they have earned through years of sharing a court.
“You can have the best players, and if they don’t get along, if they are always arguing and fussing and things like that, you just can’t put together that cohesiveness and jell,” she said. “They trust each other, and that’s important.”
It’s more than trust among the ‘Feds’ seven seniors — it’s a deep friendship that extends beyond the cavernous gym. They’ll play sand volleyball at nearby Pickett Park or swim at Boykin’s house on off days.
“Volleyball brings us together,” Suggs said. “That’s why we hang out more.”
The bond Caledonia’s players have formed will certainly be tested by graduation, which Johnson can’t believe is fast approaching.
She and senior outside hitter Tori Brooks plan to play volleyball in college.
Brooks is considering Itawamba Community College but is undecided. Johnson has settled on the Mississippi University for Women, where she knows coaches Roxanne Hernandez and Brooke Carter from her club teams. Suggs might join her there, and Johnson is happy for the possibility.
“I’m so excited, because I’m not ready to not play with her,” Johnson said.
Tuesday’s senior night was bittersweet for Johnson and her friends as they approach the reality of no longer sharing a court, and it was hard for coach Brooks to send off her daughter and the ‘Feds’ stellar senior class.
“It was hard to keep composed last night,” coach Brooks said. “I was able to do it, but they are an amazing group, and they’ll go on and do amazing things in life. … They put all their dedication, their hearts into it, and it’s been amazing. It’s time for them to move on after we finish the season and start another chapter.”
‘Whatever they want to be’
Caledonia’s season isn’t over yet, and the ‘Feds still have plenty to play for.
“We’re going for the rings,” coach Brooks said. “They’ve been talking about it for years, for months, throughout the season … They’re going for it all, and they should. They’re capable of it.”
But the ‘Feds’ seniors are still taking it upon themselves to model leadership for their teammates.
They’ve got a junior class to inspire — players who have been a key part of Caledonia’s success in their own right, Brooks said — and that still means a lot.
“I get to be happy for the girls that are below me,” Johnson said. “We’ve been able to show them that they can be good — better than us, as good as us, whatever they want to be.”
And even as Johnson moves on, she won’t soon be forgotten at Caledonia.
That’s because Johnson has a special connection to one of Caledonia’s incoming players: her younger sister, Sophia, who’s in eighth grade and plays club volleyball just like her older sibling. The sisters have never gotten to share a school or a volleyball court, but Johnson is excited that Sophia will be part of the ‘Feds’ next wave.
“I know she’ll be great,” Johnson said. “She’s a setter, like me.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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