Enjoying these digs
From a young age, Elayna Davidson revered Marist volleyball — as a sophomore, she’s now the Redhawks’ safety valve at libero
Marist sophomore Elayna Davidson has memories of hanging around the volleyball program since she was in third grade.
It happens when you have three older sisters.
“Just the gym, going in there, I was like ‘Oh, my God,’ ” Davidson said. “I felt like I was with royalty, being in there with the older girls. I counted down the years.
“It’s really cool now like, ‘This is me. I’m in that position.’ This is
what I always aspired to be when I saw them play.”
Davidson celebrated being a conference champion Tuesday night after helping lead the RedHawks to a 25-12, 25-10 East Suburban Catholic victory over host Marian Catholic in Chicago Heights.
Bella Bullington paced Marist (29-4, 6-0) with six kills. Hannah Hosty and Jessica Kurpeikis contributed five kills apiece, while Maddie Berry managed 15 assists. Davidson and Elise Bocanegra each had seven digs. Briana Hill
had five digs and two kills.
Carrington Smith led Marian Catholic (11-19, 3-3) with four kills.
Davidson is — if not the flashiest libero in the state — one of most dependable. Her 387 digs puts her among the area’s leaders. She also has 34 aces and 71 assists.
Marist coach Jordan Vidovic said her lack of floor burns is not a lack of desire.
“She’s definitely our defensive leader, and you can see it every single day,” Vidovic said. “She has embraced an even bigger responsibility. She’s more demanding in practice. She’s way more vocal.
“Her competitiveness is just as gritty. She will go after you in practice. She will go after me when I play in practice. She’ll get on you and tell you what you need to do.”
Flying around? That’s something she doesn’t need to do.
“Elayna has that mindset, but she has a good smoothness about her,” Vidovic said. “She reads the game so well. A lot of her movement in the backcourt is happen