The journey that has taken place across the 2024-2025 Carroll County High School 🏫 Volleyball 🏐 season is about to close up shop. Every team but one has their season end at some point short of its Dream destination.
Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm CCHS, as the #7 seed will be hosting a Regional Tournament play-in game against the #10 seed William Byrd.
Sadly for me, I will be 836 miles to the South at Hard Rock Stadium 🏟 for a Noon kickoff of the Duke University Football game at Miami.
The flights ✈️ were booked a month ago, when the thought of playing a 🏡 play-in game was not on the board. The reality is that if I was the only one going to fly down it would be easy to eat the ticket 🎟 in order to call out the Roster one last time.
This team grew on me in a manner that I didn’t see coming. At the start of the season I only had the Home schedule 📅 on my Calendar. As it turns out, the only day I wasn’t there for the Junior Varsity or the Varsity was their trips to Glade Springs.
I have asked Head Coach Cindy Edwards to make sure that we get to play Christiansburg on Tuesday night. Naturally, Coach said she would do her very best. Now it’s time to take the plea public by asking for the team to go out there and Win one for the Gipper. Not sure how many people are old enough to remember pre-President Ronald Reagan saying that famous line during the Film.
The Volleyball 🏐 season will end sooner than later but know that at 12-10, this team has accomplished things that weren’t foreseen. They are guaranteed to finish with a winning record despite playing 9 matches versus teams that could make serious post season runs 🏃♂️.
We know that Aza Petty will play her final Home Match tomorrow, we just need it to not be her final match of her High School career.
I feel pretty sure that I will be the only person in Miami that will be following the match. I just need the Ladies to Net (Volleyball term) a Win so we can fight to play another Day!
Had a positive day in regards to the Health battle ! Penned a story that Allen Worrell picked up and ran on-line today. It was a fun night 🌙 over in Ferrum Wednesday night.
Also put together the Player Profile on Miss Kalee Bunn ! ➕ watched the opening 45 minutes of the App State-ODU Women’s College Soccer ⚽️ game.
Day 12 begins in Boone, where this afternoon we will play our final home Field Hockey 🏑 game (4 pm).
The next stop along the North Carolina trail 👣 will be Elon University.
Tonight at 7pm, Elon University Women’s Basketball 🏀 will hold their intersquad scrimmage. This will be the very first time that Carroll County High School Alum Alyssa Ervin will wear the colors of the Phoenix.
The third and final stop ✋ will take place at the Raleigh Durham Airport ahead of the way to early Flight ✈️ down to Miami for the Duke University Football game versus #5 Miami.
The Blue Devils are 20 point underdogs to the Hurricane 🌀 but it will be a Fun Day just the same.
Opposite of our game versus Queens, James Madison will be playing Kent State. If the Dukes remain unbeaten in league play it will mean that ASU cannot finish lower than 3rd in the final standings.
The Stockner Family 👪 on the Left and the Bunn Family 👪 minus Kyle on the right.
Dad’s thoughts on his Little Girl 👧 will follow after Mom’s…
I am so proud of Kalee and all that she has accomplished and I’m sure that there is more to come. As a child she went through some hurdles, having seizures at 8 months, breaking her arm at 3 and being legally blind in one eye at 5 years old. But through our Faith in God she has been so strong.
She was always my no worries Kid and is so easy going most times. Kalee started playing Volleyball as a Kid with Rec Ball, then travel and all through high school. We have traveled many miles along the years but seeing her love for the game as well as how much she has grown as a player, it has all been worthwhile.
She has always been known as the underdog but to see where she is now it is so amazing, everything she has accomplished. She was told that she probably wouldn’t play in College but yet, here she is. Kalee is the kind of person that when you tell her she can’t, she will show you she can with God’s help 🙏.
Not only is she good on the court, she is excelling Academically by balancing 16 credit hours and a 40 hour internship as a teacher. Add in the Volleyball with making the Dean’s List with also the President’s List at times.
We have tried to tell our Children they can do anything as long as the put God first in their life and Kalee has done just that. The games that I attend, I always hear what a good leader she is. She is always taking in the Girls 👧 and making sure they feel at home and part of the team.
She is always the first in the Gym and the last to leave. When she is on the sidelines she is cheering just as loud as if she is on the court.
I am so proud of her and all that she has accomplished and all that is to come. I am proud of her for putting God first in all that she does. I love her with all my heart ❤ and will always be nearby cheering her on !
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Now, we will add the closeout to the Profile :
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Greg Bunn is a Man 👨 proud of his Daughter and that my friend, is a Wonderful 👏 thing !
Here are his thoughts…
Ever since Kalee was a little girl, she has set high standards for herself. She would get aggravated if she did poorly on a test or messed up playing a sport. In School, she worked extremely hard to get that top mark and this led her to graduating with an advanced diploma from Carroll County High School 🏫.
On the court, she was the exact same way, always first in the gym and the last to leave. Her determination and hard work ethic helped her achieve the Most Valuable Player award on the Junior Varsity team.
The same determination also helped her and her teammates win a number of various travel tournaments and during her Senior season, they captured the Region 3 Championship.
During the Regional Semi-final my wife and I were approached by the Assistant Coach at Ferrum , asking if #16 was our daughter? The Coach said they wanted her at Ferrum.
We explained to the Coach that we had no videos or had sent any letters out in regards to Kalee playing College Volleyball. The Coach stated that none of that was necessary, after watching our daughter play that day, they wanted her to play at Ferrum.
This came as a shock to us, since one of the Coaches from early on said Kalee wouldn’t have an opportunity to play at the next level. We had a meeting with the Head Coach after the season was completed and that is how her College career began.
In Kalee’s three years at Ferrum she has carried a very heavy class load of up to 18 credit hours. She has combined this with playing Volleyball & working a full-time internship, still managing a 3.8 Grade Point Average.
Not only has Kalee been this way in education and sports but in Church as well. Kalee has had God in her life since she was born and became one of his Children. She has always placed Him first in her life, working for perfection in her Sunday School 🏫 class. She always wanted to quote her memory versus word for word and answer the questions she was asked.
Kalee is a very caring, giving person who is always willing to help out where she is needed, making herself available to anyone who asked for help.
My daughter is great with Children and likes to help them learn. She is a fine young lady 👩 that any parent would be extremely proud to say is there daughter.
Ladies & Gentlemen, I present to you, Miss Kalee Bunn…
Kalee was a big part of our success when she came through. As a setter, she learned rotations and understood when to set certain hitters.
As she progressed, she began to see the court more and continued to make better and better decisions. While she is not the most athletically gifted volleyball player, she makes up for it by her knowledge of the game. We really impressed upon her the importance of understanding not only our rotations, but the rotations of the other team, and she has taken that with her to Ferrum.
She is positivity personified and will give her best in all aspects of her life from the volleyball court to the church pew. Kalee continues to impress me with her play at Ferrum and I’ve been so happy that she has been able to continue her career post high school.
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Head Coach Cindy Edwards :
What can you say about a traffic you lady who is what a great teammate should be . Always help coaching them on what she see on the court even if she’s not on the court. Is a player that every coach needs in their program she’s the programs best recruiter. Always encouraging Always bringing energy.
Love her for the young woman she’s turning out to be. When she graduated from Carroll, we weren’t sure she would go to a 4 year college she is such a family oriented person. Her family is very important to her, so for here, too, be graduating next year, and going into education is so special, and I couldn’t be prouder.
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Kalee Bunn :
I started playing Volleyball 🏐 when I was in the 3rd grade for the Carroll County Rec Department and ever since then I have been in Love with the game!
I’m so thankful 🙏 for the Sport and the people that have been there with me through it all. Volleyball has taught me a lot of life lessons and one of those is never give up because you can do hard things.
I really did not know that I was going to play Volleyball in College because I was always a homebody. My plan was to go to a Community College but all of that changed the night 🌙 that we played Magna Vista. The Ferrum Assistant Coach at the time came up to my Family 👪 and asked if I would be interested.
I am not going to lie, at first I was not going to pursue it until it hit me the night of my last Volleyball game at Carroll County that I might not touch a Volleyball again if I didn’t play in College.
So that’s how my journey began and I’m so thankful for the people that believed in me and pushed me to play collegiate Volleyball. I would not be where I’m at today if it wasn’t for my Family, Coaches and teammates.
I wanna give a special Shout Out to my Mom as she has been there every step of the way and never missed a game unless it was an Emergency. Without her, I don’t know where I would be right now.
The rest of my Family was there for me through it all and never left my side. I also wouldn’t be here without the most important person in my Life and that is Jesus Christ, my Savior.
He has guided me every step of my journey and if it wasn’t for Him, I wouldn’t even be here. My favorite verse that keeps me going is Proverbs 3:6 – “In All the Ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy Path”
So for all of the Athletes out there that want to give up because they think they are not good enough in College, I want them to keep pushing because you can do hard things and your dreams can come true.
