GREENFIELD — Greenfield-Central’s Mya Grigsby has always had raw volleyball talent.
Last year, she became a confident player, and that led to — at the time — her best season as a member of the G-C volleyball team and her first Daily Reporter Hancock County Volleyball Athlete of the Year honor.
This season, to be named athlete of the year once again — and topping last season’s numbers — she unlocked a third aspect of her game. She learned to have fun while playing the sport.
“My attitude and how I view the game now has changed. I used to dread playing a lot. I used to not have fun with it and used to think of it as a chore,” Grigsby said. “Now, I really value playing with the girls and playing volleyball. Overall I just improved my mental state and how I thought about the game.”
Playing with a newfound love for the game, Grigsby helped lead the Cougars (22-8) to their most wins since 2018 and had her best season in four years on the team.
“It was relieving because we all felt at ease with each other as a team this year,” Grigsby said. “It was all positive feelings, it was my senior year and everyone was so supportive of each other.”
The team started 12-0 behind the dominant play of Grigsby.
Over the 12-game win streak, Grisgby had double-digit kills in 11 of the matches, and exceeded the 20-kill mark in three, including a season-high 28 kills in a conference win over Delta. Two nights later she had 21 kills in a three-set win over county rival New Palestine.
“She was definitely a leader in the gym, and she stood out skill-wise right away. She was a veteran of the program and the varsity team and really knew her identity on the team,” Greenfield-Central first-year head coach Candice Wyatt said. “She filled the roles that we needed her to as a senior leader and a star player.”
Grigsby had double-digit kills in 28 of the Cougars 30 matches and recorded 20 or more five times.
She finished the season with a school-record 443 kills, averaged 4.8 kills per set, had a .347 hitting percentage, and broke the 1,000-career kills mark during the season.
Those marks were good enough to lead the conference in hitting percentage and finish third in kills. In Class 4A, she had the seventh best hitting percentage and the 10th most kills.
“It’s really impressive because at outside hitter you get set up the most so that gives you the most room for error. She had so few errors and just became such a consistent powerhouse and had a really high kill percentage and hitting percentage which is not very common at the position,” Wyatt said. “It didn’t matter who we were playing, she was going to get double-digit kills almost every single night.”
It wasn’t just on the attack where Grigsby made her mark. Her 45 aces were second on the team, and her 344 serve receptions were third.
“It definitely helps having someone that when she’s not in the front row she’s able to make great passes, serve receive, and she had the most digs on the team. Putting her at middle back gave her an opportunity to help us defensively and not very much got by her because of how quick she was,” Wyatt said. “Having that all-around player that is best on the team in terms of hitting but then also defensively is impressive. She could go play in college and pretty much play whatever position she wanted to.”
Defensively her 354 digs were the most on the team and were third-best in the conference.
“I just look at it as nothing hits the floor without me trying to get it,” Grigsby said. “If my body is not on the floor when the ball hits the ground, that’s a wasted point.”
Those numbers in every area of the game led to her being named All-Hoosier Heritage Conference, Class 4A All-Central District, by the Indiana High School Volleyball Coaches Association, and MVP of the early-season Shondell Tournament where the Cougars went 2-1.
She capped off her high school career with career-highs in kills, blocks, and digs, and finished her career with 1,108 total kills and 1,023 digs.
“The positive atmosphere and my competitiveness both helped me,” Grigsby said. “I had a goal in mind that I wanted to do, and I did it.”
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2023 Daily Reporter All-Hancock County Volleyball Team
Player of the Year: Mya Grigsby, Greenfield-Central
Coach of the Year: Kelli Gabehart, New Palestine
First Team
Pos.;Player, School;Height;Class
OH;Bella Brownfield, New Palestine;5-7;12
OH;Mya Grigsby, Greenfield-Central;5-11;12
OH;Kaitlyn Lowes, Eastern Hancock;5-8;11
S;Samantha Gooding, New Palestine;5-8;10
MH;Rachel Burke, New Palestine;5-10;12
DS;Alana Eastridge, Eastern Hancock;5-0;10
L;Azure Flagle, New Palestine;5-3;10
Second Team
Pos.;Player, School;Height;Class
OH;Rilee Roland, Greenfield-Central;5-10;11
OH;Easton Wampler, Mt. Vernon;5-10;12
OH/DS;Brooklyn Willis, Eastern Hancock;5-4;12
S;Ava Whitmore, Mt. Vernon;5-7;11
MH;Ellie Meyer, Eastern Hancock;5-10;11
MH;Madison Sonsini, Greenfield-Central;6-0;11
L;Aubry Dowling, Mt. Vernon;5-3;10
