Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Junior Gretchen Kellen serves as one of Homewood volleyball’s outside hitters and took on a leadership role as the team’s season wore on last year.
Just a few years ago, Gretchen Kellen knew nothing about the sport of volleyball.
Kellen picked up the sport at the urging of a friend and played at the Shades Valley YMCA as a sixth-grader.
“I was a little intimidated but instantly fell in love with it and knew I wanted to do something with it,” said Kellen, now a junior outside hitter for the team at Homewood High School.
One thing led to another and she hasn’t stopped playing yet. Kellen even made enough of an impression to get pulled up from junior varsity to the varsity bench at the end of her freshman year.
She had a front row seat to the Patriots’ run to the super regional tournament.
“It was such a good experience,” she said. “I play club ball also, so I was used to the adrenaline of having so many teams around me. I love that enthusiasm, so that was so much fun.”
Krimson Revis took over as Homewood’s head coach last fall and selected Kellen, then a sophomore, to the varsity team that made another trip to super regionals. She certainly possessed the ability to contribute.
“Gretchen, coming in, was very talented,” Revis said. “The first thing we noticed was her power. She has a really powerful swing.”
The coaching staff worked with Kellen to refine that power and improve her ability to combine it with accuracy. While working through that, Kellen also was moved from the left side to the right side. It was tough, but Kellen took it all in stride.
“It’s just the complete opposite of what I’ve always known,” she said. “I had to switch everything around and get used to it. It took awhile, but I think I finally got the hang of it.”
Revis said the change challenged Kellen in many ways, extending her beyond her comfort zone but ultimately making her a better person and player.
“Exposing her to the other side of the court kind of exposed another side of her mentally,” Revis said. “She had some battles, some obstacles that she had to get over. The coolest part has been watching her grow mentally as a leader.”
Kellen began to take on a leadership role as the season wore on last year. More than anything, she learned to trust her teammates.
“I’ve always known that I have to trust the players around me, trust my team. But last year, I think we really came together in the end and became friends, not just teammates,” she said. “That’s what it took to get us that far, that we had that bond.”
That bond has translated to this year’s team as well, as evidenced by summer lake trips and random dinner outings.
“I’m really looking forward to see when it just clicks and we all mesh together really well,” Kellen said.
Homewood wraps up its regular season in October, including hosting the long-running Margaret Blalock Tournament. The Patriots will get their chance to make a third straight super regional trip with the area tournament Oct. 22.
