Lexie Gatewood is the anchor of the defense for the Male High School volleyball team.
The 5-foot-4 senior is the libero and one of the team captains for the Bulldogs (7-5), who were ranked No. 20 in last week’s Kentucky Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 poll. Last year she graded out at 2.11 (on a scale to 3) in passing while also recording 153 digs and 13 aces.
Q: How did you start playing volleyball?
A: I had a best friend (Charlotte Breslin) in middle school. We were just messing around and she was like, “You should play volleyball,” and then she kind of taught me the basics on how to play. I wanted to try out in the sixth grade, but I played basketball instead. Then my seventh-grade year I started playing volleyball for Barret Middle School. And then my mom got me involved with MAVA, which is a club team.
Q: You liked it right away?
A: Yeah, I loved it. It was way better than basketball for me. I just loved everything about it.
Q: What’s your role on the team?
A: I am one of the three captains. I am the main person in the defense in the back, so I have to be really loud and call out the plays and be a leader. I really enjoy being a leader on the team. I like how the underclassmen look up to me. I try to be the best role model I can be for them and for my school.
Q: Why do you play libero?
A: It’s an honor to be a libero because obviously you get to wear the different color jersey, so you stick out like a sore thumb. … It’s a special kind of thing. It’s a position you fight for to be the best defensive person on the team.
Q: Have you always enjoyed playing defense?
A: I used to be a hitter, whenever I played at MAVA, because I can jump pretty high. But then I came to Male and people were taller than me, so they switched me to the back row. I wasn’t used to it, so I had to get more accustomed to that and just practice and get better.
Q: Does defense get overlooked?
A: Everyone overlooks the defense, because they always look at the tall hitters that hit the ball down. But it all starts with passing and the defense and how you set up the play.
Q: You’ve committed to Georgetown College. Why Georgetown?
A: Georgetown is so great. It’s a small school, and I love small schools. It’s one of the best NAIA volleyball programs in the whole nation, and it’s close to home, which I really like, so my parents can come and see me play volleyball. I’ve just heard a lot of great things about it and I just loved it as soon as I stepped on campus and visited with the players. It was just a great atmosphere and I really enjoyed it.
Q: What will your major in?
A: I really want to major in psychology.
Q: Why?
A: I’m just really interested in how the mind works and other people’s thinkings and cognitive abilities and stuff like that. It really interests me.
Q: So one day you want to be a psychologist?
A: Yeah, a forensic psychologist – one that interviews killers and that kind of thing. The weird stuff, it interests me a lot.
Q: Where did you come up with that?
A: “Criminal Minds,” it was so intriguing to me. Then I took psychology my junior year and I fell in love with it.
Q: What are the goals for this season?
A: Obviously one of our main goals is to beat our rival, Manual, this year. We haven’t beaten them since my freshman year. Another goal of ours is to finish with a better record this year.
LEXIE GATEWOOD UP CLOSE
School: Male.
Year: Senior.
Sport: Volleyball.
Student-athlete: Lexie, who has a 3.3 GPA, says her favorite subject is Psychology.
Family: Lexie, 17, lives with her mother, Krista; dad, Demery; and younger sister, Karlie, 14, who is a sophomore at Male and a member of the school’s field hockey team.
Male coach Craig Bossmeyer says: Lexie is one of the hardest-working and most determined volleyball players I have had the opportunity to coach. She is always willing to learn and gives 100-percent effort in practice and games. Defensively, she is a great talent and the coaching staff at Georgetown is lucky to have such a great person joining their team next year. Lexie Gatewood is a great example of what it means to be a Male Bulldog.