LUBBOCK, Tex.- In any given Frenship High School volleyball game, junior Hadlee Welch’s teammates look to her for a big kill or block to put the Tigers on top.
“Everyone gets excited and just the momentum and energy go up, and that’s how we go on a roll,” Welch said. “The mindset is to just stay calm, don’t get negative just stay positive.”
Hadlee Welch is KLBK’s Athlete of the Week after tallying 27 kills, 18 digs and one block to go with it.
“I’ve seen Hadlee growing up and playing club with family members and stuff,” Frenship’s head volleyball coach Amy Mangum said. “I knew she was a great player and she does a fantastic job, she works hard to get a great approach and good swing and then she’s working on all the other parts of her game as well.”
Though Hadlee’s hard work doesn’t go unnoticed by Coach Mangum – though it’s Mangum’s first season at Frenship – volleyball has always been in Hadlee’s DNA. Her mom played volleyball in college at Abilene Christian University and has been an encouragement to Hadlee throughout all her childhood playing volleyball.
“Yes, she’s been through it,” Welch says, “so her just telling me things she’s been through and just relating it to her.”
Welch has been playing club volleyball for four or five years she said, but she knew by about middle school she wanted to eventually play in college.
“She’s just going to grow as a player and continue getting better,” Mangum said. “And her striving to play at the colligate level and I think she’s working toward all those different skills and she’s just going to get better. Learning to move the ball around offensively and passing and blocking and all the things so. I knew she was a great player and she does a fantastic job.”
She played on varsity her sophomore year and got pulled up some her freshman year as well, but Coach Mangum saw her progression long before her junior season started.
“I always knew she had a great arm and swing really well and block really well and get over the net,” Mangum said, “but I think something I saw her developing in the off season was her all-around game.”
