The week of Sept. 25, 2025, senior volleyball player Kaylee McInnis won the Kane County Chronicle Athlete of the Week award. The win occurred after two games against West Chicago and Glenbard North, where, according to Shaw Local, McInnis “put up 26 kills, 19 digs and five aces for the Saints.”
Going more in-depth than just the statistics, McInnis won the award through her hard work: “[When I found out I was nominated], it felt like all the work and energy I have put into this sport to get to where I am today was recognized and rewarded for.” McInnis explained that the work put in was not only physical, but also mental: “I have definitely changed mentally little by little every year, and my coaches and teammates have helped me tremendously with that to push me to be better.”
She also talked about the biggest obstacle she had to work through to get to where she is now: “The biggest challenge I faced was losing the best coaches I have had in my volleyball years.” To overcome this, she “maintained a relationship with [my coaches], and I leaned on both my parents as well as my teammates; they were always there for me, but continued to push me to be a better athlete as well as a person.”
At the beginning of her high school volleyball career, McInnis was the youngest on the team. This year, she is the oldest, and now has more responsibilities besides playing; she helps build the STCE volleyball community: “I have had to step up this year more than ever, but having that leadership role has pushed me to be a better teammate for these girls.”
After all of her work throughout the years, receiving the award was a well-earned achievement: “[When I found out I had won], my emotions were honestly so rewarding, and [I was so] grateful to have so many people voting for me, and it showed me that I truly do have an army behind me,” she said. She continued, “It was just such a realization moment that changed my perspective and gave me more drive to continue to play the sport that I love!”
This season has not been easy for the team, and has brought multiple challenges, but McInnis as well as the other players on the team have worked through them, “we got fresh new coaches, and we have a very young talented team, so having a bond outside of volleyball and then bringing it onto the court has helped this team in ways we didn’t realize at first,” said McInnis.
As her last high school volleyball season wraps up, McInnis looks forward to “ending my high school career with the best girls.” Further than that, she will continue to play club volleyball and possibly college volleyball: “beyond high school, I will have my final club season, and [I] hope to continue my academic and athletic endeavors at a four-year university!”
