<p><strong>T</strong>he elevated vantage point from which Center Grove volleyball player Grace Boggess sees life differs from most girls her age.</p><p>A study in wingspan standing every bit of 6-foot-4, Boggess, a senior middle hitter and three-year starter, thoroughly enjoys the God-given leverage she brings to everything, whether it’s her favorite sport or any non-volleyball activities.</p><p>“My whole family is pretty tall. My oldest brother (Jake) is 6-7 and my dad (Jeff) is 6-3,” Boggess said. “I love being tall. I wouldn’t change it for the world. It gives me a lot of confidence, too, like you’re different from the others.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]<p>“I guess the best part of it is being able to play sports and be a middle blocker.”</p><p>Not just any middle blocker.</p><p>Boggess, an all-conference and all-county player as a junior, has accrued 571 kills and 270 blocks in her high school career. She’s been a force at the net again this season for the Trojans, who take an 11-6 record into tonight’s match at Bloomington South.</p><p>Statistics aside, Boggess brings value to every team meeting, practice and match just by being Grace Boggess. Her leadership is greatly valued in a program that graduated nine seniors from last season’s 29-7 squad, which lost to eventual 4A state champion New Castle in the final match of the Columbus East Semistate.</p><p>“Grace has really stepped in and been a good senior leader,” third-year Trojans coach Chris Due said. “She’s kind of taken some of the younger players under her wing. She’s actually handling a much larger workload as well. With our lineup and how we have it, we have our two big guns (Boggess and junior hitter Katie Egenolf) opposite of each other, and that way we’re able to feed her the ball.</p><p>“One of the things about Grace is she brings a great, positive vibe to the gym. You never hear her say any negative words at all. Grace is always smiling. Always laughing. She’s not a very emotional player. Very even-keeled, but she definitely loves to play.”</p><p>Center Grove’s victory at Lawrence North on Tuesday improved its record to 5-0 in the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference standings. The Trojans can clinch the league title by winning at Lawrence Central on Oct. 6 and against Ben Davis at home two days later.</p><p>In her four seasons on varsity (Boggess was a backup as a freshman), the Trojans are 99-26 overall and a spotless 26-0 against league opponents. Center Grove hasn’t lost a regular-season match to a MIC team since a five-set loss to Lawrence North in September 2013.</p><p>Boggess, who carries a 3.8 grade-point average, will play volleyball at Butler University. She is leaning toward majoring in health sciences.</p><p>In the meantime, the veteran of three regionals and last season’s semistate hopes to help the Trojans achieve even more in her final postseason.</p><p>“Obviously, my goal is to get to state, finally, just because we’ve been so close every year,” Boggess said. “I feel like we can do it this season.”</p>
