By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

CHINA GROVE — Carson’s 27-6 volleyball season ended at West Henderson in late October in the fourth round of the 3A state playoffs, but the volleyball season for senior Kaylee Thonen never really ends.

It’s a quiet Monday night in November, but Thonen isn’t sleeping or studying or watching television. She’s driving to practice with her High Rock Volleyball club team that includes many of her Carson teammates.

“I guess I’m volleyball, volleyball, volleyball,” Thonen said. “Volleyball is my life.”

In Thonen, Carson’s Kelan Rogers, a coach who is volleyball, volleyball, volleyball all the time, found the perfect extension of himself on the court. Thonen was close to a perfect player and a flawless leader.

“Kaylee has been a phenomenal player for us for years and she was more than phenomenal as a senior,” Rogers said. “Not only digging like crazy, but by being the unquestioned leader of our team. We had a good season. We won 27 matches. We won championships. We had success not only because Kaylee was really good, but because she made every one of her teammates better.”

In a nutshell, that sums up why Thonen is the Post’s Player of the Year for volleyball. The county had some electric hitters such as Thonen’s high-rising junior teammate Reese Joyner and East Rowan’s versatile Cameron Ostle, who had a super senior season and led the Mustangs to 21 wins.

East was very good, but Carson was still quite a bit better than anyone else in the county — 8-0 in county matches, with eight sweeps — and Rogers is certain that Thonen was the single biggest reason for the Cougars’ separation from the pack.

Thonen was Carson’s libero, a back row defensive position governed by unique rules. She never rotated to the front row, never attacked or blocked. While a lot of what she did for Carson can’t be measured by stats, she did lead the Cougars in digs — by a lot. She paced the team in aces. She handled serve-receive the most. Her precise passes to setter Rylee Hedrick led to countless kills by Carson’s lethal swingers.

As the libero, Thonen wore blue when her teammates were clad in orange, and she wore an orange jersey when the other Cougars were decked out in blue, but she was the one that got them all on the same page, got them all pulling in the same direction without anyone worrying about individual stats.

She didn’t shy away from being the vocal leader, the mental leader, and in the toughest matches, the emotional leader.

“Being a leader is never something I went out and looked for, but it kind of just happened,” Thonen said. “The younger players have always looked up to me. Maybe it’s because I love it so much, or maybe it’s because I play so hard. But a leadership role is something I have always accepted, and not just this season. I try to be tough mentally and I try to be there for every one of my teammates.”

Thonen pointed out that some leadership goes unnoticed. It’s not all rah-rah stuff on the court. Some of it is simply making sure teammates come to practice on time and conduct their warmups properly. Little things like that can make a difference in the big picture.

Thonen was once a softball player. She was really into the sport and excelled at it. She played for coach Rob Hales at Southeast Middle School.

“I’m pretty athletic and I was pretty good at softball,” Thonen said. “But there was a day when Coach Hales introduced me to Coach Rogers. I remember that he said, ‘You’re going to want this one for volleyball.'”

That proved to be the case. As soon as she got started with volleyball, Thonen knew she had found a sport to pour heart and soul into.

When she was a freshman, Carson was still reeling from the struggles of the COVID years. Some girls who had been expected to play chose not to play. The program, once powerful and deep, was struggling for numbers.

Thonen’s skill set defined her as a potentially terrific libero or defensive specialist, but Rogers had to play her out of position for two years, as the Cougars were just trying to compete.

She was a actually a middle hitter as a freshman and held her own despite some ankle injuries. She was an outside hitter as a sophomore.

It wasn’t until her junior season that Carson had the depth for her to put on the libero jersey full-time.

Carson made some strides Thonen’s junior season, but the breakthrough for the Cougars didn’t come until this year. Carson shared the South Piedmont Conference title with Lake Norman Charter with 15-1 records and the Cougars beat Lake Norman Charter in the tournament championship game.

“The first win we had against Lake Norman Charter at home was a critical game for our season,” Thonen said. “That game told us we could play with anyone. We were a different team after that, had a different confidence level, and we won three playoff games. We played really well as a team when we won at Ashe County in the third round. But we just didn’t play very well after the first set at West Henderson. If we’d played that night the way we played at Ashe, we could have played with West Henderson.”

West Henderson went on to win the 3A state championship.

Thonen’s senior season included playing with her younger sister, Piper, a sophomore outside hitter who has a bright future.

“I probably got into it with Piper more than anyone in practice,” Thonen said with a laugh. “We’re sisters, after all. But Piper had a really good season, and she’s going to have a great career.”

The Cougars were mostly young and could be great next season, but they’ll have to find a replacement for Thonen, and that won’t be easy.

“Great server, great at serve receive, great passer, great at digging, but her biggest asset was she could stay calm during the tightest matches,” Rogers said. “She could always pull her teammates together. We’re going to miss that.”

Thonen is still uncommitted but plans to play in college and is being recruited by several schools.

“Liberos and defensive specialists have the toughest road as far as getting recruited,” Rogers said. “But she’ll play somewhere.”

 

All-Rowan County

Carson — Kaylee Thonen, Reese Joyner, Katy Falkowski, Rylee Hedrick, Maggie Cross

East — Cameron Ostle, Alli Corl, Jordan Dry, Jacee Eudy

South — Meredith Faw, Campbell Withers, Meghan Eagle

West — Sophia Blackledge, Skyy Ruben, Lydia Wilson

Salisbury — Ashley Yang, Ava Morris

North — Dasia Elder

Player of the Year — Kaylee Thonen, Carson

Coach of the Year — Kelan Rogers, Carson