After each of the past two seasons, Center Grove’s volleyball team has shipped a graduating hitter off to play college ball at the Division I level.
Those departures — Macy Carrabine to Denver and Ellen LeMasters to SIU-Edwardsville — left a big void on the Trojans’ front line, with few proven options available for filling it.
Enter Calista Stafford.
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A bit player in her first two seasons, the 6-foot junior has moved into a starring role for the Trojans. Heading into tonight’s match against Warren Central, Stafford paces the Trojans in kills with 106 — already more than she had all of last year.
“This year, she has stepped up and looked like a completely different player,” Center Grove coach Chris Due said. “She came shape, she came in focused and ready to take care of business, and she’s been a huge lift for our offense.
“When we need that go-to hitter and she’s out there, we depend on her to get the job done and she’s done a great job of taking the offense on her shoulders.”
That was never more apparent than in the Trojans’ five-set comeback win at Franklin last month. Stafford finished that match with a career-high 19 kills, delivering seemingly every time her team needed a big point.
In the past, she might not have been ready for those moments, but Stafford says she’s felt a change in herself over the course of the past year.
“My confidence has definitely shifted from sophomore to junior year,” she said. “Just the past club season, and knowing there were these great girls before me; I’m just trying to live up to their legacy.”
During the preseason, Due had tried putting Stafford in the same outside hitter spot that LeMasters dominated from last fall, but he found that Stafford was far more comfortable on the right side — a product of her hard work there in the offseason.
“I’ve put in a lot of work on the right side this past year,” Stafford said. “Practice three days a week for club, and then I’ve had a lesson once a week, so I’ve just really worked at the right side, and just kind of got my timing over there, got comfortable. It just feels natural, which is kind of weird for a right-handed right side.”
Stafford’s comfort level is helped by her rapport with classmate Madison Hammill, who happens to be one of the top setters in the country.
Having spent years playing together with Hammill, Stafford says, has made transitioning into a larger role much easier — and working together more this season has made the duo even tighter than they had been.
“MJ’s great,” Stafford said. “We’ve known each other since we were 2, we’ve done everything together, but our relationship has really grown this year inside of school and outside.
“It really reflects on court, too. I trust her and she trusts me, and we know what we need to do.”
More often than not, they’re getting it done.
