Published: Nov. 28, 2015
Senior stood out early for Suns
STORY BY NICHOLAS DETTMANN ■
DAILY NEWS
Most freshmen studentathletes would get lost on a roster
full of juniors and seniors, especially if they’re All-Conference or All-State
performers.
Not West Bend East’s Lexie Uselding.
She found a way to stand out, even as a freshman.
“She had a hard hit,” said Natalie Geidel, one of 10 juniors
on the 2012 Suns. “It opened up our front row. It was hard for the other team
to figure out who was hitting.
“She was also a pretty good passer, an all-around consistent
player.”
As those seniors and juniors moved on, Uselding’s role
increased, but more teams took notice. She also filled the stat sheet on a
nightly basis.
“We looked at her stats,” East coach Colleen Hasse said.
“She got kills, she got blocks, she got aces, she got points for the team.
Defensively, she was phenomenal.
“She was a consistent, allaround player.” Uselding went on
to be one of the most decorated players in East volleyball history.
She was named All-Wisconsin Little Ten Conference four
times, including the Player of the Year in 2014 and 2015. She was twice named
All-State by the coaches association (2014 and 2015).
Uselding finished her fouryear varsity career with 1,642
kills with a .297 hitting percentage, 1,161 digs, 101 blocks and 170 service
aces.
Of the 1,161 digs, 913 were in the last two seasons.
Let’s add 2015 Daily News All-County Girls Volleyball Player
of the Year to the list, the third time she was named to the All-County team
(201315).
“I could not have asked for a better four years,” Uselding
said. “The last four years will be something I’ll never forget.”
The same will go for her coach, Colleen Hasse.
“With Lexie, I thought she played well all the time,” she said.
“If she wasn’t doing well offensively, she’d put that energy into her defense.
That was something I really noticed about her this year. She doesn’t play bad
in our eyes.
“She always found a way for the struggle to be the energy to
bring out a strength.”
This season, in addition to her 423 kills — an average of
4.8 per set — Uselding had 53 aces, 15 blocks and 323 digs in 402 chances.
“It’s going to be difficult because she was a force to be
reckoned with,” Hasse said when asked how she and the Suns will try to overcome
her graduation in the spring.
Geidel, the 2013 WLT Player of the Year and Daily News
Player of the Year, knew Uselding had a good chance at being special, and she
saw it early.
At 10 years old, Uselding played up a level with Geidel on
her U12 club team — the West Bend Power.
“She opened the court up for everybody,” Geidel said.
Hasse said Uselding was first blessed with volleyball talent
from the moment she saw Uselding played as a 12- year-old.
“I remember watching her in Orlando (Florida), they were at
the AAU championship,” Hasse said. “I remember watching her play and she played
all around, the way she moved, the way she could read the ball. I could see
that she got it, picked up the game really quickly.”
But Uselding was nervous when she walked into the first day
of practice with the Suns.
“They were super intimidating,” Uselding said.
That quickly changed and one reason for that was the 11
upperclassmen on the 2012 roster saw a unique talent, regardless of her age or
grade.
“I feel like it was tough for her at the beginning, but I
thought she adjusted quickly,” Geidel said. “She played a big role for our
team.”
In the 2012 sectional final against Neenah, Uselding led the
Suns in kills.
The other stat leaders in that match for the Suns were
Delaney McCreary, Baylee Gross, Megan Kiefert and Geidel, all of whom later
earned college volleyball scholarships.
Geidel was recently named the North Star Athletic
Association’s Player of the Year.
Uselding was the Suns’ leader in kills in the 2013 sectional
final as well on a team with nine seniors, including McCreary and Geidel,
four-year varsity starters.
“She came in with a great group of kids,” Hasse said. “She
was coming into a pretty developed team. I had some good seniors and some good
juniors.
“She also needed to learn about me, the kids and the level
of play. She did a really nice job.”
Uselding was glued to volleyball after watching the Lynn
LaPorte Sprawl, one of the state’s marquee high school tournaments hosted by
West Bend, as a fourth-grader.
“I knew I wanted to play volleyball,” Uselding said. “I
liked how excited the girls would get after a point.”
Seemingly every chance she had, Uselding focused on
volleyball.
Four years ago, she wanted to “try my best.”
“I knew that I had to work super hard,” Uselding added.
“They were so talented. I had to work so hard and play the best I could. I thought
I did the best I could as a freshman. I thought I helped out.”
Uselding tried basketball in middle school, but “nothing
compared to volleyball.”
Next year, Uselding will walk on at the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee after offers from Viterbo University and Lewis University
didn’t come through.
She said yes, going to a NCAA Division I school is exciting,
but she is more excited for the campus and being part of a successful program.
“The coaches made it a very easy decision,” Uselding said.
She plans to study nursing.
“Milwaukee was where I pictured myself,” Uselding said.
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