Setter Haylie Spencer poses for a photo outside of Wes-Del High School after volleyball practice Wednesday evening.
GASTON – As Haylie Spencer sat in the driver’s seat of her early-2000s Bonneville on Bradburn Drive waiting to turn left onto Morrison Road, she was beyond excited.
It was Aug. 3, the first official day of volleyball practice — and for Spencer, her first official day as a starter. For three years, she had piloted the junior varsity team to win after win, biding her time while Kennedy Petro — one year older than Spencer — set for the varsity. Now a senior, it was Spencer’s chance to lead the defending state champions.
Spencer looked left and saw that the road was clear.
School hadn’t started yet, so she grabbed a quick tanning session at Tan U Very Much, but she was due at practice in about 15 minutes.
Spencer looked to her right, and she saw a car coming.
This year’s team wouldn’t have as many weapons as last year’s group which featured six seniors, but Spencer would still get to set All-State outside hitter Alysa Sutton and a crew of hungry, more-than-capable teammates that had bided their time on JV, just like herself.
Spencer looked to her left again and seeing that it was still clear, she inched her way forward into the road as she waited for the car coming on the right to pass.
This was the season she had waited for, and this day was the start of it all.
Crash.
Spencer didn’t see it coming, but a car in the turn lane smashed into the front of the Bonneville. Spencer wasn’t hurt, but her car was totaled. The front end was “completely gone, radiator smashed in. Just a mess,” according to Spencer.
“I took the blame,” Spencer says now, softening her voice. “It was my fault.
“I called my parents right away,” she continues, reliving the conversation. “I was like, ‘Mom.’ And she was like, ‘Are you OK?’ She just knew by my voice (that something was wrong). ‘I got into a crash.’ ‘OK, call your dad.’ ‘Got it.’”
Next, Spencer texted her coach, Biff Wilson. She would not be making it to practice that day as she had to wait about an hour for the police to arrive. The beginning of her dream season would have to wait one more day.
Ironically enough, Spencer’s ascension to leader has been no accident — that’s been three years in the making.
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Spencer actually still wanted to go to practice after the wreck, and later that day, Wilson explained why.
“She’s been the backup quarterback that’s sitting there behind Favre, just waiting,” Wilson said. “… She’s just been waiting for her chance, and this is her chance. She’s very, very good.”
Wilson, of course, was referring to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who had to sit behind Brett Favre — a likely first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2016. Rodgers was drafted in the first round in 2005 but sat the bench for three seasons behind Favre. Now Rodgers is a two-time NFL MVP and a Super Bowl champion.
Wilson’s point was that it’s taken a lot of patience for Spencer to ride it out, even when she’s had the ability to start. Instead she chose to shine on the junior varsity, which went 20-2 in Spencer’s sophomore season and 17-3 last season.
She got to platoon with Petro during tournaments, rotating sets, but it was always clear that Petro was the starter. And it worked as the Warriors went 35-3 to win their second state title in four years.
Spencer, meanwhile, took the time to develop as a leader. Being only a year younger than Petro, she never felt nervous or awkward asking for advice, and she studied how Petro ran the team. Spencer actually credits that process into making her into the player she is today.
And now she’s brought along a crew of seniors anxious to step into the spotlight with her — like Emily Hale, Marah Reno and Paige Townsend.
“We knew that with the six seniors last year and then the six juniors last year,” Reno says, “we would all have to wait our turn to be there. I never saw (Haylie) get frustrated because we knew this would be our year to play.
“And now it’s finally here.”
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Spencer is the lone captain of the Warriors, who are 3-0 and ranked No. 1 in Class 2A in both the coaches’ poll and media poll ahead of Thursday’s showdown at No. 2 Wapahani (2-0). She was unanimously voted as captain by her teammates.
“It wouldn’t have surprised me if she was voted captain her junior year when she wasn’t even starting,” Wilson says. “It didn’t happen, but it wouldn’t have surprised me if it would have happened. Because she’s always been that kid, the one that gets it and has the knowledge. That’s the one you want out there directing everything.”
Spencer has a keen understanding of leadership, and maybe that goes back to being a coach’s daughter. Her father, Tyson Spencer, is Wes-Del’s wrestling coach, and Haylie has been the team’s manager.
Listening to Spencer talk about how she wants to lead sheds some light on why the transition has gone so smoothly.
“I think it’s going very well. They’re responding well to what I’m trying to tell them, and I’m responding well to what they’re telling me as to how to lead them. Being one of the leaders of the team, you have to understand how each player functions and how each player reacts to what you’re going to say. With that comes that you have to listen to them as much as they’re listening to you. I think we have a good mutual understanding of each other.”
It’s certainly helped that Spencer is playing with the same teammates she had on JV. But if the Warriors are really going to challenge in 2A after bumping up a class this season, Spencer has to have a solid rapport with Sutton, who committed to Eastern Michigan earlier this month.
“Me and Haylie have always been friends, since middle school, so the dynamic between us isn’t that hard to adjust to,” Sutton says. “Me and Kennedy were obviously really close and had that connection. But this whole preseason, me and Haylie have worked really hard to get the gist for each other and how we are, what we want as players.”
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Spencer is still nervous about making turns in her car; every time she has to make one, she’s scared. No matter how clear it is in either direction, she’s afraid she’s going to miss a car and she’s going to get in another accident.
But ironically enough, she’s as comfortable as ever driving the Warriors in their bid to repeat as state champs.
“I’m just taking my senior year one day at a time,” Spencer says, talking about her future, “just basically trying to get through it but not rush it.
“I want to enjoy it.”
Contact sports features writer Ryan O’Gara at (765) 213-5829. Follow him on Twitter @RyanOGaraTSP.
Thursday’s ECI Volleyball Schedule
•Winchester at Blackford, 7:30 p.m.
•Daleville at Delta, 7:30 p.m.
•Lawrence North at Central, 7:30 p.m.
•Cowan at New Castle, 7:30 p.m.
•Northeastern at Monroe Central, 7:30 p.m.
•Wes-Del at Wapahani, 7:30 p.m.
•Shenandoah at Yorktown, 7:30 p.m.