Benton's 12-year-old Higareda a rising star at two positions

Kenzie Higareda tried to focus on the volleyball coming her way. It was the positioning and the pass that mattered.

Only this was no ordinary play and she knew it.

As one of four liberos invited to participate in the prestigious USA Volleyball High Performance Pre-Select Camp in Colorado Springs, the Benton Middle School seventh grader shared the court with Olympians.

It was hard to ignore that, especially when one of them had just sent the ball directly to her spot on the back row.

"He was like 6-foot-7 or something," she said. "So when I got it, I felt pretty good."

Few 12-year-olds get to experience volleyball the way Higareda did in July, when she was chosen from a tryout to take part in the nation's top training program.

Only the most promising young players are offered a spot in the High Performance camps and Higareda was the youngest player from the Chesapeake Region to receive an invitation.

"I just kind of did my best," she said.

Pretty much from the day she first learned to bump and set, she has excelled on the court -- fol-lowing a tradition first established by her older sister, Kirsten, a former Forest Park High School star who parlayed a High Performance invitation into a spot on Virginia Tech's volleyball team.

Kenzie already has a similar skill set and a passion to match to older sister, who graduated with Bruins' school records for career digs (908), single season digs (391) and digs in a single match (42).

"My sister has influenced me a lot. I definitely want to break her records," Kenzie said. "I've been running around the gym since I was like five because my sister was playing.

"My dad would toss me a ball and I'd start hitting and passing. That's how I got started."

Even then, she was better than virtually all the girls her age so as a 9-year-old she made her club debut as a member of the Clash U12 squad.

The following year Kenzie switched to Ichiban, where she has earned three consecutive team most valuable player awards and helped the U14 team place third at the 2006 Chesapeake Re-gion Tournament.

"My sister played Ichiban so I wanted to play Ichiban," she said.

That would also explain Kenzie's fondness for defense.

Yet, despite the inevitable comparisons to her sister, she is beginning to establish her own identity -- as fledgling star in lacrosse and as a volleyball player.

Last fall, she made Benton's volleyball team as a sixth-grader and wound up starting at setter. The Cougars went 7-3 and captured the Central Region championship

"It feels pretty good to be a champion because we worked really hard," Kenzie said, noting that this year's squad will be just as talented with star hitters Ashley Vranizan, Sa-vannah Racine, Brittany Bayly and Emily Hellman each returning.

"I definitely think we'll have a good team," she said.

And now that she's exchanged a few volleys with members of the Olympic team, Kenzie is well prepared for her next great volleyball adventure -- even if she isn't quite ready to do it at just one position.

"I really like being libero," she said. "But being a setter is like the head of the team, so I'm not really sure which one I like more. It's fun to play all the way around."