PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Avery Fraser has been a staple of the Guardians volleyball team nearly her entire high school career. With their loss to Summit in the first round of Wednesday’s playoffs — this part of her journey is now over – but not without taking some great memories with her.
“We all have the same love of the game, so it’s been fun getting to know them. They’re like my sisters now,” Fraser said.
The Ida B. Wells senior has been playing volleyball for 10 years, starting when she was in third grade.
“I love the game itself, like it’s really fun, just, like, diving everywhere because I’m not very tall so I can’t play outside,” Fraser explained
Instead, Fraser is the Guardians’ libero which she describes as “the best passer on the team,”
That position was hard-earned as Fraser explained “I put in hours outside of practice where I would do like interval training, like sprinting, and then I lifted a lot,”
Despite gyms being closed at the beginning of the pandemic, nothing could keep Fraser off the court. “I got a lot of touches in, like, over COVID, we have a park right next to my house and I would go up there for, like, an hour-and-a-half each day and, like, hit the volleyball,” Fraser said.
Fraser doesn’t plan on playing college volleyball, however the sport continues to inspire her as she dreams of becoming a nurse “being around different injuries and seeing what people do to heal them,” Fraser said.
For now, Fraser says she is focusing on “going all out because this is it for me, so just one last hurrah,”
The Ida B. Wells Guardians lost 0-3 against Summit following Wednesday’s playoffs.