While Cecily Coffman enjoyed being a cheerleader in elementary and middle school, when she entered Seymour High School she knew she wanted to play a sport.
She became a volleyball player her freshman year at Seymour High School and feels that it’s one of the best decisions she has ever made.
In her senior season, Coffman broke the school record for digs in a season this fall with 488.
“I feel honored to hold the school record for digs because Mackenzie Wieneke had the record before me, and I look up to her,” Coffman said. “She was an outstanding defensive player for Seymour and continued her career at Franklin College as their libero. She helped me a lot this year to better my defensive skills.”
Wieneke was Seymour’s freshman coach this fall.
Coffman played the libero position on the freshman team and was the Owls’ varsity libero the past two seasons.
She talked about strategy and knowing where to be to get a dig.
“I base off where I go on the court with where the blockers are so if they’re together then I’ll go off their shoulders,” Coffman said. “But, if there is a hole in between them, then I will go in the hole because it’s likely the hitter will hit in the hole.”
On the floor, Coffman felt that the team played its best when they talked the most among one another.
“Communication is probably the key to volleyball,” Coffman said. “If there is a ball in between you and a player, you’ve got to call it really loud so you don’t run into each other and no one gets hurt.
If a hitter is going up we tell them how many blockers they have on the other side so they can hit around them, or if they can hit the line or cross. That’s really important.”
Getting off to a good start always gave the Seymour High School team confidence.
“If you’re down a set, then that other team thinks they are going to win it, and it takes longer to come back and win the game,” Coffman said. “It’s important to get that first set over with.”
Coffman said it was a valuable experience playing club ball in Seymour, and with Union in New Albany.
She was on Union teams that qualified for the national tournament twice.
“At club you play with more people at your level, so it helps you become a better player for high school,” Coffman said. “Some of the girls don’t play club so you can kind of help them and that can influence them to be a better player.”
This spring, Coffman looks forward to competing in track.
Last year she ran the 100, the 4×100 relay and pole vaulted.
“My favorite event is the 4×100 relay,” Coffman said. “It is so much fun and nerve-wracking at the same time because the baton exchange has to be perfect and the exchange distance between my teammate and I has to be exact. My favorite lane is Lane 1 because it makes you feel like you are running a shorter distance.”
“My first year running track was last year, so I wasn’t even expecting myself to be on varsity, but I was for the 100 meter and the 4×100 relay. My goal is this year is to set more personal records.”
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Name: Cecily Coffman
School: Seymour High School
Parents: Kim Wetzel, John Coffman
Sibling: Collin
Sports: volleyball 4 years, track and field 4 years
Athletic highlight: school record for digs in a season
Organizations: National Honor Society, student government, dance committee, Latin Club
Plans after high school: attend Indiana University
Favorite food: pizza
Favorite TV show: The Office
Favorite musician: Taylor Swift
Favorite team: Purdue volleyball
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