Filling the leadership role in Vandal volleyball

Through squeaking shoes on the gym floor, constant loud communication, referees’ whistles, cheering from the sidelines and music blasting through overhead speakers, there is never a good moment to stop and think during a volleyball game.   

Through each chaotic game, University of Idaho’s Kennedy Warren has taken on her role as team captain leading by example, helping guide and ground her team through the quick-paced sets with minimal words and plenty of action.   

While having a junior outside hitter as a team captain isn’t incredibly common, Warren said she went into this season motivated by her childhood idols, who continued on past college into the realm of professional volleyball.  

“Just looking at older girls on the teams above me and thinking about how great they were, and how I want to be just like them,” Warren said. “Then getting the opportunity to play on the same team as they did, with their same coaches, was just an amazing feeling.” 

Warren, who grew up with her mother as her coach, is a Texas native and experimented playing many different sports, from gymnastics to soccer, before she settled on volleyball because of the team dynamic of the sport.   

Warren said her mom wanted her to play basketball because that’s what she played in college, but Warren’s heart was drawn toward the teamwork of volleyball rather than the up-close aggressiveness of being a point guard.   

“I made a deal with my mom in the eighth grade where if I was able to make it onto a certain volleyball team, I could quit basketball,” Warren said. “She was like ‘Sure, whatever,’ and didn’t actually think I could pull it off. I made the top team and quit basketball. My love has always been toward volleyball because you can’t do it all by yourself, you have to rely on others to perform.”  

Warren said she came to Idaho after an invitation to attend a volleyball camp, then decided to stay because the volleyball team and campus felt like the right fit for her. Vandals head coach Debbie Buchanan described Warren as one of the fastest and most versatile players on the team.   

“She does everything that we ask, she never complains and she’s just that ultimate team player,” Buchanan said. “She’s team captain and pretty much does everything and can do everything. Whatever role we need her to fill in, she’s doing.”  

In January, Warren tied with her career high in number of kills in a match, scoring with 25 points against Southern Utah University. In February she beat her career high attack percentage with .526% against Sacramento State University.  

Warren spent most of her volleyball career as a middle blocker, becoming primarily an outside hitter when she came to play for Idaho. She said the two roles hold completely different necessities, where being a middle blocker required a lot of fast movement and being involved in every block while the outside hitter bears a lot of responsibility to score points.  

“Every year her role has gotten bigger,” Buchanan said. “This is the first year she’s played all the way around (the court). She’s just continued to develop and take a bigger role every year.”   

Anteia McCollum can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @antxiam5