White boosts Waterford in tough Region 10

SANDY — From an outsider's perspective, Missy White had it all at Brighton.

As a junior, White played a key role in leading the Bengals to their first ever state volleyball championship. She earned all-state honors at setter, a volleyball scholarship to St. Mary's (Calif.) and looked to have a good shot at finishing her career with a repeat 5A title this fall.

Looking at it from a volleyball standpoint, White's decision to transfer to Waterford just didn't make that much sense. But this change was about more than volleyball. White felt like the private school in Sandy was just the place to prepare her for college — in the classroom.

And it felt like the right thing to do, even though it meant sacrificing another year with her friends and teammates at Brighton.

"My environment is a small school," White said. "I want to focus more on my academics and that's what I'm doing."

If someone told Ravens coach Steve Manning a volleyball player of White's caliber would leave Brighton to join his team before the season, he would have chalked it up to wishful thinking. When that scenario actually happened, it was hard to adjust to the reality of it at first.

Once White's arrival fully sunk in, Manning had good reasons to believe Waterford would become an instant factor in the Region 10 volleyball picture — despite being newcomers to the region and to 3A as a whole.

White is a great leader, he said, who can elevate a whole team. Her presence is enough to open up the game for the rest of the team.

"When she's on the floor, everybody has confidence they are going to get the next point," Manning said. "They just know that they can. We often go to her when we really need something and she produces."

White can produce in the big matches, there's no doubt about it. In collecting a team-high 15 kills in the Ravens' 3-1 victory over Park City last week, the senior totaled six more than any player for the Miners.

Then again, putting together such a dominant performance isn't a new occurrence. What is new is doing it without the sort of pressure and scrutiny that could have come with playing for the defending 5A champion.

Pressure is one thing White does not worry about at Waterford.

"There's not really (any) pressure," White said. "We're the underdogs. The pressure is on them not to lose to us. All we have is confidence to go and beat teams."

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E-mail: jcoon@desnews.com