Forest Park's Stephanie Kelly leads Chesapeake to High Performance volleyball gold

When Stephanie Kelly heard her named announced over the loudspeakers, she could feel her heart pounding underneath her No. 7 jersey.

The Forest Park High School junior was about to play for a championship in one of the most prestigious volleyball tournaments of the summer and the anticipation was unlike anything she'd ever experienced.

"It's the most amazing feeling," she said.

Participating in the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships has a way of causing even the best players in the country to get just a little bit fired up.

And since this was Kelly's first chance to represent the Chesapeake Region in a national all-star competition, she wanted the adventure to be something she would always remember.

"I had done the [High Performance] training camps before, but I'd never played on a team. So that was a really nice surprise," she said. "It was just so fun because there were so many high-level girls out there who know what they're doing. Everybody is at a super high level."

Kelly has been playing at a super high level for several years. Only now, the Bruins' 16-year-old starting setter has a gold medal that confirms it.

The best 15- and 16-year-old players in the U.S. were chosen to attend the High Performance Championships in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., but only a handful left as champions.

With Kelly running a 5-1 offense, the Chesapeake Region went 7-2 during the five-day competition and captured the National Youth Division championship by rallying for a 21-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-19 victory over the Lone Star Region in the finals.

"We all knew that you had to play well throughout the week to be able to medal at the end," Kelly said. "Everyone on our team was excited to be there. The night before, we were all figuring, 'This team has to do this and this team has to do that,' in order for us to get into the gold medal game."

The medal was the first of any kind for a Chesapeake Region team at the High Performance Championships, and it officially announced Kelly's arrival as an elite player in a sport she began playing just five years ago.

"I know that I always have to do my best and train hard so I can be athletic and have the ability to play," she said. "It takes a lot more than what I've been doing to be able to play at that level. I have to try harder with what I'm doing all the time."

As she prepares for her second varsity season at Forest Park, the 5-foot-6 setter is now charged with maintaining a legacy that includes one Group AAA state championship and nine Cardinal District titles in the program's 10-year history.

"I'm ready to keep it going. I've watched them play since I was in middle school," Kelly said. "I've got it.

"We're rebuilding, but most of our girls have played at the club level. All we have to do is learn to play as a team. Once that clicks, we're going to be really good, I think."

Introduced to volleyball by her parents, Kelly made her club debut with the Clash U12 squad and quickly established herself as a gifted passer and back-row defender.

Five team most valuable player awards later, she has ascended into the national spotlight.

"Now that I've seen the level of play of girls in other areas, I know I have to work even harder," said Kelly, who played with the Northern Virginia Volleyball Association Lou-doun 16s Open team this past season. "It puts everything in perspective."

The gold medal, which will eventually find a permanent home on a wall in her bedroom, keeps things in perspective,too.

"We were ecstatic beyond belief to know that we'd just won one of the biggest things ever," said Kelly, who got to keep all of her High Performance gear, including her game jersey. "It's an amazing memory."