Record Newspapers Athlete of the Week: Ellie Stewart, Yorkville Christian, volleyball, senior

Name: Ellie Stewart

Sport: Volleyball

Why she was selected: Stewart helped lead the Mustangs to three wins last week, including the program’s first-ever playoff win and first-ever regional championship.

She was selected the Athlete of the Week in an online vote. Here is her interview with Sports Editor Joshua Welge.

Yorkville Christian had never won a playoff game until last week, let alone a regional title. Did you surprise yourselves?

Stewart: No, we weren’t surprised. Extremely grateful and excited, yes, but surprised, no. We’ve worked hard all season with our end goals in mind and it was just very exciting that it was finally time to complete the first step.

What was key to getting it done? How did you celebrate?

Stewart: I think that the key was our communication on the court. You hear that a lot in volleyball, that communication is key, but throughout regionals it couldn’t have been more true. The more we talked to each other before, during and after each play made a huge difference in our performance. Our coach always reminds us that the only think you can truly control in volleyball is how much you talk and your attitude and we take that very seriously. We celebrated by getting to be back in the gym the next day. Once the playoff games started, I think that our main motivation to win was that we all just really don’t want it to end. We really enjoy playing together and I think that none of us want it to be over. Also, our coach got us Chick-fil-A which was super fun because we’re all slightly obsessed with it.

How has the season gone otherwise?

Stewart: The season has been good otherwise! We’ve been really blessed with a diverse schedule that lets us play teams at all different skill levels. We’ve played some really tough games and have learned not to define our talent by if we win or lose but by if we’re growing. I think that that is really important when you play a sport as quick as volleyball because if you get down you need to be able to pick yourself back up and you can’t do that if you comfortably win every game. We’ve learned so much from playing higher level teams and they’ve made us stronger, physically and mentally.

How did you get started in volleyball? What do you like about the sport?

Stewart: I started playing volleyball when I was a freshman in high school to stay in shape for my other sports. My freshman year, I was brand new to the sport and had never even played a team sport before. I was really blessed that Yorkville Christian is a small school where the coaches truly help you become a better athlete and student while helping us grow in our faith and I quickly realized that I really loved playing, especially for a school as special as YCHS. I remember when I first started I would go home and write out all the rotations for every position and study and study them. I watched countless YouTube videos, turned our garage into my own personal workout area, and made targets out of garbage cans. My dad helped me duct tape a line at where the net would be on the outside door and I hit a ball against the wall and passed to myself for hours. I live on a farm, so the amount of obstacles I found to set up my little training areas were endless. I did lots of box jumps on hay bales and ran in a lot of cornfields.

What position do you play? How did you end up there?

Stewart: This season I’m playing as a middle hitter as well as a defensive specialist in middle back. I started off as an outside/right side hitter when I was freshman and sophomore but started playing middle my junior year. I was tall and they needed a middle so I kind of just got thrown in but ended up really liking it. My setter, Ella Lombardo, really, really helped me learn the timing of a middle and where I needed to be on the court. She was a freshman last year (which was my junior year) so we learned together. We’d stay after practice a lot to work on timing and looking back I think that that is one of the things that really gave us a head start this year. As far as playing in the back row goes, it’s been a lot of fun to be able to try something new even though I’m a senior.

Typically middles are known for not playing in the back row, but that’s another thing that sets YCHS volleyball apart. We’re not afraid to try new things just because it’s not normal. We’ve played more than one game with no libero and two middles playing in the back row, we have three setters in various positions on the court at all times, and we are loud and obnoxious, but that’s just how we work. We’re not normal and we don’t try to be. A big part of our preseason practice is making sure that every girl can play every position if she needed to. It’s really important in our program that we understand the importance of each other’s roles on the court and what better way to do that than to play them?

Have you played any other sports?

Stewart: Yes, I am a rodeo athlete as well as a volleyball player. I’ve been rodeoing since I was in third grade and riding for as long as I can remember. I love to be around the western industry and the people who are there. It’s an amazing sport that teaches you so many life lessons from how to work hard to how to take care of animals and how to be accountable for your own successes and failures. Rodeo has helped shape me into the athlete that I am. I’ve won multiple state event and all-around titles rodeoing, but like volleyball, rodeo for me isn’t about winning anymore. It’s about getting better every single run and knowing that I have the mental capacity to make myself be the best I can be.

In the National High School Rodeo Association, I compete in all five events open to girls and am a multiple time qualifier for the National High School Rodeo Finals which is the largest rodeo in the world. To qualify, you have to be in the top four in your state and there are contestants from 48 U.S. states, five Canadian provinces, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia. Another thing about rodeo is that it’s a year-round sport. There’s never an off season, so when I’m playing volleyball I’m actively rodeoing as well. But, playing volleyball is a fun transition from rodeo because rodeo is a completely individual sport, there’s no coach and no team. I think that rodeoing all my life gave me the drive to work so hard at volleyball. I actually started playing volleyball just to stay in shape for rodeo and never ever thought that I’d like it as much as I do. When I first started it was the most mind blowing thing to have a coach and teammates that showed up every day and invested their time into making you better

What’s your favorite TV show or movie?

Stewart: “Sweet Home Alabama!” I love 2000s rom-coms.

What’s your favorite or toughest class?

Stewart: My favorite class was screenwriting and film production. It opened up a whole new world for me and I have loved getting to use my creativity in new ways!