Senior outside hitter Grace Hegwood has among UIndy’s leader in both kills and digs the past two seasons.
Submitted photo
As a fifth-grader, Grace Hegwood decided to go out for volleyball at St. Barnabas Catholic School in Indianapolis.
The Greenwood resident’s best efforts during practices earned her a spot on the B team, which, through the benefit of hindsight, can be viewed a couple different ways.
It wasn’t the A team, nor was it the C team.
“I couldn’t even serve the ball over the net from the 10-foot mark,” remembers Hegwood, now a senior outside hitter for the University of Indianapolis women’s volleyball squad. “I saw other girls doing it, and I wanted to so bad.
“At that point, I didn’t have the competitive drive in me yet. It was just a fun game to me.”
Suffice it to say, Hegwood’s preparation, self-motivation and the results they help yield are taken far more seriously now.
Through her first 21 matches this season at UIndy, the 6-foot Hegwood, a Roncalli product, leads the Greyhounds in kills (208) and ranks second in digs (180) and service aces (21).
UIndy takes an 11-10 record into this weekend’s matches in Missouri against Southwest Baptist and Drury.
Like so many athletes, Hegwood didn’t immediately begin accruing the type of statistics in college that she had in high school.
Two years younger than former Indianapolis outside hitters Katie Furlong and Taylor Jacquay, she waited her turn — and then made the most of it when it arrived.
“When Grace came in as a freshman, she had a couple of older players in her position,” said Jason Reed, now in his 10th season as the Greyhounds’ coach. “We thought that when they graduated, it would be a seamless transition, and that’s exactly what happened.”
In a big way, no less.
Hegwood embraced her newfound spotlight last fall by leading UIndy in kills with 356 — nearly four times the total of her two previous seasons combined. Included was a 21-kill performance late in the season in a four-set victory against McKendree.
A nursing major, she was also part of the Great Lakes Valley Conference all-academic team.
She’s since picked up where she left off last season, notching a career-best 22 kills against Michigan Tech, 16 against Truman State and 15 against both Bentley and McKendree. Hegwood is also credited with double-digit dig totals in four of the team’s last five matches and 10 overall this season.
Her impact goes beyond those numbers, however,
“Grace does a really nice job within the stats, but there are a couple of things that may go unnoticed,” Reed said. “I’ve been impressed with her on and off the court. Grace is very ready for her next challenge, but the good thing is we get her for another year.”
With nursing being a five-year program, Hegwood plans to use the additional year of athletic eligibility made possible by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic to be part of the Greyhounds’ 2023 roster.
“I have another year of school before I technically graduate, so it worked out well,” Hegwood said. “The people here in the volleyball program and throughout UIndy are so nice and welcoming. Just great people.”
