STARKVILLE — A year ago, Wheeler Richardson found her voice as a leader of the Starkville High School volleyball team.
Richardson also continued her do-everything role for the Lady Yellow Jackets, moving from setting to digging to hitting without missing a beat.
But what Richardson did last season was easy compared to the responsibilities she had to juggle this season.
Not only did Richardson have to play all of the same roles she did as a junior, she had to raise her level to help make up for the loss of three key players, including her sister, McKay. Richardson didn’t waver, though, as she maintained a high level and improved in several statistical categories to help lead Starkville back to the state tournament.
For her accomplishments, Richardson is The Dispatch’s Volleyball Player of the Year.
“By not playing down and going undefeated in our district was really good, especially for the future,” Richardson said. “I think they have got some good girls (next year) to help lead the team.”
Richardson knew she would have to shoulder a larger load entering the season after her mother, Lynne, and her sister, who played libero, or designated defensive specialist, moved to Virginia. After learning her mother had taken a job as dean of the College of Business and the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., Richardson said she was told she could stay in Mississippi with her father, Woody, to complete her senior year at Starkville High but that she had to make a decision in a day. She said she wavered between leaving Mississippi and staying in the state before she was finally told she was staying.
“McKay was like, ‘Wheeler, it is not like we’re dying. You will see us every once in a while,’ ” Richardson said. “I was like, ‘OK.’ My mom could tell I wasn’t happy with the decision to leave, so she was like, ‘You’re staying.’ She said you need to quit changing your mind because you are just going back and forth. She just told me to make it a really good year, and so far it has been.”
McKay Richardson played libero this season on the volleyball team at Courtland High in Spotsylvania, Va.
The Lady Yellow Jackets also had to make up for the loss of outside hitter Elizabeth Scott, who transferred to Heritage Academy, and defensive specialist Priyanka Parajuli, who transferred to the Mississippi School for Math and Science. Richardson responded by leading the team with 134 aces, 141 digs, 282 assists, and in serving percentage (96.3). She was third in kills with 109. Last year, she had 78 kills, 328 assists, 185 digs, and 116 aces. Richardson did all of that as a 5-foot-4 dynamo who moved seamlessly from setter to hitter. In a 3-0 loss to Hernando in the Class 2A playoffs, Richardson had nine assists, four digs, and two aces. She four kills in the third set as Starkville found its rhythm before seeing its season end at 19-11.
Richardson figured she had to “suck it up” and handle the situation because it wasn’t going to change. She feels the changes helped her become a better leader because it enabled her to learn and to grow in her own way.
Richardson’s ability to play multiple positions stems from a background that in the state of Indiana, where she played with the Munciana Volleyball Club in elementary and middle school before moving to the state of Mississippi.
Starkville High coach Lauren Love, a former player at the University of Tennessee, said Richardson handled losing part of her support system and being asked to do so much with focus, intensity, and determination.
“It shows the kind of character she has that she can do that and maintain a high level of performance on the volleyball court as well as in the classroom,” Love said. “I think her leadership skills really came through.”
Love credits Richardson for helping the team improve every day since the first time it took the court at a Mississippi State team camp. Love said there were so many new faces, but Richardson helped keep everyone together and didn’t allow them to make excuses because of their youth or inexperience. She said Richardson led by example and served as a teacher on the court.
“I think she did a great job out there, and it looked like she was having fun,” Love said. “She was positive and encouraging in practice and before practice. She would get things going when the coaches were meeting. She also didn’t expect anything less. I think it was good that she showed and gave them the respect that, ‘Hey, we’re out here and in this together, so let’s work hard. We may not have the experience, but we can get better every opportunity we can.”
Richardson admitted adjusting her personality wasn’t always easy, but she said she grew to understand to motivate her teammates the right way without putting them off. She hopes the experience she gained will help her continue her career in college. She said she has Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., at the top of her list, and is also considering James Madison University.
Even if she doesn’t get to play volleyball at the next level, Richardson will be able to look back and know she matured as a player and as a leader to help keep the Starkville High volleyball program moving forward.
“It was really hard,” Richardson said. “It kind of hit me a few weeks into the season that they’re not going to see me play at all in high school. McKay was kind of like my person to go to if I was frustrated. She was someone I could tell her everything. My mom, I don’t want to say she had never missed a game, but she was usually always there, so it was weird not having them and just having my dad, but I got through it.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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