Ms. Volleyball proving skeptics wrong — Laycock was too small, too weak to thrive in volleyball

HIGHLAND — Lacey Laycock has been told more than once that she's too small to really succeed at a sport like volleyball.

Her response?

Prove those skeptics wrong — over and over and over.

"She always says, 'It's not how tall you are, it's how tall you play,"' said her mom Lisa Laycock. "She's a remarkable person in the sense of discipline. She's very determined when she wants to do something."

And one of the many things this senior setter wanted to do was play volleyball.

Lacey Laycock was only in the eighth grade when a coach told her she couldn't play on the top team in her age division because her serves were too weak.

"They told her she wasn't strong enough," said her dad Larry Laycock. "Her serves didn't make it over the net."

Instead of accepting a role on another squad, this year's Ms. Volleyball went home and taped a piece of masking tape to the wall at 7-foot-2, the height of a regulation volleyball net.

"She hit the ball at that piece of tape until it disappeared," he said. "By the end of the season, she served 21 points in a row to win the IVA championship in that age division."

In fact, her parents refer to her as "nerves of steel" because when the game is on the line, she wants to be the one bearing all of the pressure.

Lacey began setting the volleyball when her older sister, an accomplished hitter for Lone Peak, needed someone to feed her the ball. To make sure she would someday earn the starting setter's job for the Knights, Lacey set 500 balls each night from her sophomore year to her senior season. Laycock is a two-year starter and led the Knights to a 5A championship after a second-place finish last season.

"Her work ethic is one of her best attributes," said Lone Peak head coach Deanna Meyer. "The fact that she's driven to better herself, and that she's very goal-oriented has made her a success."

The little girl who wasn't strong enough to get the ball over the net a few years ago, broke the state record for the most service aces in a single match with 13 against American Fork. She also broke the single season state record earning 113 aces this season. She has 191 career aces.