Harli Sesser has a great memory.
Signing ceremonies typically don’t require student-athletes to study the previous night, so Sesser had no idea she would be tested upon her return to Heritage Academy after the school was closed for two days due to winter weather.
But Sesser was ready to answer a list of questions dealing with the “firsts” associated with the Heritage Academy volleyball team. It shouldn’t have been surprising because when asked about Sesser, Heritage Academy volleyball coach Liz Fields said, “where there is a will, there is a way.”
That’s why it was fitting Sesser was directly responsible for the most important first of the day: Becoming the first volleyball player from Heritage Academy to get an opportunity to play the sport in college. Sesser made it official Friday morning when she signed a letter of intent to play volleyball at Millsaps College in Jackson.
“It is exciting,” Sesser said when asked what it meant to her to be the first player from the school to go on and play volleyball in college. “I think there are girls that have potential after me to do the same thing. Hopefully I won’t be the last one.”
Sesser ticked off answers to the a bunch of “firsts” associated with Heritage Academy volleyball, which started in 2011 when she was a freshman. She recalls the first match — a loss to Starkville — and the first victory — a five-set win against Columbus. She also remembers the first time playing volleyball she believed she could do it in college. She said it came when she had full extension and made a block from her middle blocker position against Columbus High. All of those memories set her working toward a goal she realized Friday morning.
“The second I got done playing volleyball at Heritage Academy I couldn’t imagine not doing this,” Sesser said.
Fields, who played volleyball at Alabama, said it was a “bittersweet day” because she hates to see Sesser leave the program. She said she remembered Sesser saying from the start that her goal was to play volleyball in college. After four years with the Heritage Academy volleyball team and four year playing with former Mississippi State coach Tina Seals and the Mississippi Juniors club program, Sesser’s vision came true.
“I am really proud of her,” Fields said. “Harli has always been a player who wanted to know what she could do better. She always wanted to know what she was doing wrong. She always asked me if she could stay 10 minutes later and hit with me.”
Fields knows Sesser’s willingness to do more will help her accomplish a lot. She also hopes it will set an example for the returning members of the school’s volleyball program to realize that they, too, can realize a goal if they are willing to invest the time and energy. She said Sesser did that and became a strong hitter and blocker.
“She has a great spirit on the court,” Fields said. “She is definitely going to be an attribute to the Majors.”
Sesser knew from the start at Heritage Academy that Fields and former co-coach Liz Byrne, who played volleyball at San Jose State, were going to treat all of them like volleyball players, not newcomers to the sport. As one of the few players who had played the sport, Sesser wasn’t intimidated. Instead, she received the push she needed from Seals, who offered her a few words of encouragement that set her on her way. She built her confidence with the Heritage Academy program and helped the program grow in the four years she played it at the school
“I have known I have wanted to play since the first day I met coach Tina Seals,” said Sesser, a 6-foot right-side player. “She told me I had a reach like a college player. From that moment, I knew I wanted to play volleyball in college. I never really thought I could, especially at a four-year school. I didn’t think I would be able to go to a four-year school.”
Sesser said her thinking changed as she continued to play and mature as a player. She said she realized Seals “knew what she was talking about” when she offered the praise. Since then, she has spent a lot of time honing her skills. She and former Starkville High School standout Khris Carr, who will play volleyball at Mississippi State, are teammates on a Mississippi Juniors 18 club team that won its first tournament in January. The team was scheduled to play Saturday at another tournament in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Fields said that kind of commitment is what it takes to excel at a sport and to realize an opportunity to play at the next level.
“Harli said from day one she wants to play in college, and she is doing it,” Fields said. “Obviously, she had a goal and she went after it and she achieved that goal.”
Sesser also remembers the first time she went to Millsaps. In 2013, Heritage Academy participated in a volleyball tournament that had some of its matches at Millsaps, so she had a chance to play in The Hangar Dome at the school. She said her uncle, Drew Manning, also played baseball at the school, so she knew a little bit about Millsaps. It didn’t take long for her to feel it was the right place for her. She said she stayed in contact with Millsaps volleyball coach Jaime Fisher throughout her junior year and then visited the school again last November and gave her a verbal commitment.
“The good thing about it is I am going to be playing with a group of girls that loves volleyball and wants to play volleyball and wants to win,” said Sesser, who anticipates studying political science and possibly pursuing a career in law. “But it is going to be hard. Millsaps is a tough academic school. It is going to be hard balancing volleyball and I am going to be in a sorority, but I know Millsaps is a place I can get everything I want and I can succeed.”
After acing the first questions about the history of the Heritage Academy volleyball program, Sesser was asked to imagine what it was going to be like the first time she practiced with the Millsaps volleyball team. Her answer brought all of the memories and hard work full circle.
“I am going to be so nervous,” Sesser said. “I feel right before I am going to be nervous, but once I get on the court and get a volleyball in my hand and I am with my teammates and my friends, I will be fine. It will be just like practicing with my club girls and my Heritage girls once I am out there.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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