'Super' spiker

FAIRBORN, Ohio — They call Abby Barcus their super freshman.

And that’s not just because she’s already been on campus for eight months.

Only 10 matches into her collegiate career, the 2017 Jay County High School graduate has established herself as a leader along the front row for the Wright State University volleyball team.

Barcus was by far the host Raiders’ most consistent attacker Saturday in a four-set loss to West Virginia during the Holiday Inn Invitational in McLin Gym, and also led the way in kills a night earlier against Harvard as she earned all-tournament team honors.

“She made an impact instantly when she got here in January,” said coach Susan Clements, who has lead the WSU program since 2012. “We call her a super freshman because she’s already played spring tournaments.

“Just her speed, her athleticism, she has no fear. She is such a competitor. It’s really given our team a lot of confidence …”

That confidence only grew during the second game Saturday against West Virginia after the Raiders (2-8) fell behind 20-12. Barcus, who came off the bench, recorded two kills in a 6-2 run to pull Wright State to within three and watched as her teammates tied the score.

When she returned to the court, she slammed home kills to give the Raiders one-point leads at 27-26 and 28-27. Each time, the host team couldn’t finish off the win, and West Virginia pulled ahead 29-28. But Barcus wouldn’t allow her team to lose, ripping another kill to even the score once more.

WSU would not trail again, finally taking the set on a Katie Klusman kill followed by an attack error by Natania Levak of the Mountaineers.

Though the Raiders went on to lose — 25-17, 30-32, 25-19, 25-19 — the fact that they were able to win even a set against West Virginia (8-2) was a major step. The Mountaineers’ only losses this year came against top-ranked Minnesota and No. 2 Penn State.

“We weren’t expected to beat them at all, so to just get a set on them was pretty big,” said Barcus, who started game three and had two kills in the first four points before WVU pulled away.

Barcus finished the match against West Virginia with 19 kills and a .350 attack percentage, by far the best numbers on the team. She added four digs, one assist and one block.

“We had a good matchup with her hitting against the setter,” said Clements, who also got seven kills apiece from seniors Megan Hopkins and Klusman. “I think her arm speed really gives blockers problems. It’s so fast and she elevates so well that unless it’s a really low set she typically can get around them or get off of them …”

Barcus has mostly played on the front row thus far this season, but when the Raiders struggled defensively against West Virginia, she got the call. She turned in a perfect match in terms of serve reception and came up with four digs to help stabilize the back row.

“She just has a great feel for the game. She’s very quick and athletic, and that is definitely a goal for our program down the road is to get her comfortable in the back row,” said Clements. “For me, I know that Abby is not going to let a ball hit the floor without 100 percent effort. And that’s what you see when you put her back in there.”

In the other matches in the Holiday Inn Invitational, Barcus led the team with 13 kills in the loss to Harvard and recorded 10 as WSU topped Tennessee Tech in four sets.

Her 107 kills on the season rank second on the team only to Klusman’s 120, she also has a .216 attack percentage.

She feels graduating early from JCHS in order to get a head start on college volleyball has paid dividends already.

“It helped me with the bond of the team, getting to know everyone, how they play,” said Barcus, who is one of six freshmen on the squad. “I’ve definitely gotten better at blocking. It’s a different kind of blocking. And then learning how to hit around the bigger blocks, because in high school, they’re not as good in the front row.”

They’re not as big either. For instance, all six West Virginia front-line players stood at least 6 feet tall, with middle blocker Katie Demeo checking in at 6-foot-3.

But Barcus was up to the tall task of hitting against the Mountaineers, as she has been against each opponent since opening her freshman season with eight kills against Long Beach State. She’s had at least seven kills in every match since, and has reached double figures in four straight.

It’s been a strong start, and Barcus is hoping to give her coaches and teammates plenty more reasons to refer to her as “super.”