Big Reds’ Caelyn Wise inks with Concord volleyball
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PARKERSBURG -- Following a successful four-year run at Parkersburg High School in volleyball, Big Red senior Caelyn Wise announced Friday she'll continue her career as a student-athlete at Concord University.
The Mountain Lions of head coach Kate Dillon, who compete in the Division II Mountain East Conference, finished 16-15 last year. Wise will be joining older sister Rylee on the court once again.
"As of right now I'm going into business. I want to be a cosmetologist," admitted the National Honor Society member who carries a 3.8 GPA and is vice president of the senior class.
A triple-A second team all-state honoree as a senior, Wise put down 331 kills in each of the past two seasons and finished with 1,011 career downed spikes for the 2023 Mountain State Athletic Conference champions.
"Caelyn is a great kid and an amazing athlete," stated PHS head coach Erin Thorpe. "I know the decision to play in college wasn't an easy one for her with the career path she wants to do, but I'm excited for her to be able to have the opportunity in college. She is such a natural athlete. She knows the game so well and loves it, which shows on the court. There was a game her junior year that I will never forget.
"It was the regional championship and we went to five sets and both sides were just exhausted at this point of the match. We were down by a few points and the other team had match point. We fought back and earned ourselves match point and Caelyn was in the front row. During that last play I knew exactly where that ball was going, to Caelyn, and I knew without a doubt it was going to be a kill and we would win it all."
Wise, a 93% career server who had 189 aces as well as 1,050 career digs, is currently playing travel volleyball with her team YNOT.
"My travel volleyball team is with a lot of the girls that are going there next year," Wise admitted. "This is my first year playing for them."
When asked about making the adjustment to the college game the Big Red said, "I'm probably going to love it, but it will be different since it's college level than it was for high school."
PHS advanced to the state tournament each of Wise's first three seasons.
"I'm not really sure," Wise replied when asked if she might get an opportunity as a freshman to see the court. "I don't really care if I start or not. I want to play."
Competing for the Mountain Lions will be different for Wise because the Big Red said she is likely going to go from being an outside hitter to a right side hitter.
"I prefer outside because the block is much easier to do because you have to block the right side instead of the other outside," admitted the Big Red, who attended Concord's camp over the summer and currently works at Bond's Tailgaters.
"We've played four tournaments and we've won three out of the four and got second on the fourth one. For travel right now I play everywhere. I honestly will just play wherever she wants me to play I'll go."
Wise also admitted that when it comes to volleyball matches "I kind of like playing more intense games and needed games than I like playing easy games."
Coach Thorpe was able to rely on Wise during big moments like at this year's Capital tournament where PHS ended up beating Cabell Midland for the championship.
"We hadn't beat Cabell yet and had just gotten throttled by them earlier in the day," recalled coach Thorpe. "Caelyn and the other girls had this drive I've never seen. They were going to win. During the match we found a hole and Caelyn and I talked about it a few times during timeouts. The game went back and forth past 25 for match point and then Caelyn rotated to the front row. She looked at me and asked 'is it still open?' And I just shook my head and smiled because I knew she could easily hit it.
"Sure enough match point, she got a big dig, ran out for a beautiful approach and placed her swing perfectly to win the match. She is so coachable and competitive. If she doesn't know how to do something right away, she's going to work as hard as she can to get it and figure it out. I'm just so excited for her to continue her career and to see where she goes as an athlete these next four years. I remember when she was just a tiny little girl during my time paying at PHS, and to have the honor to coach her so many years later and now be able to cheer her on at the collegiate level is so special to me."
The Big Red netter did say she was "a little bit nervous" about going to Concord "but I think it will be OK. I love it. It's a gorgeous campus. It's not big. It's little like I wanted it to be and the town is small, too.
"Like I want to go to college, play and get that experience, but I also don't want to leave PHS. I want to thank all my coaches, my mom, my teammates, gurm and the rest of my family that has supported me. Without them I wouldn't be where I am today."
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com