By Karlee Collins, Staff Writer
Anna McGee, middle hitter for the Armstrong Pirates’ volleyball team, is shining in her third collegiate volleyball season. Behind her averaged 3.42 kills per set, McGee is a guitar-playing Texan with a personality that makes her instantly likable.
“I love that I’m from Texas,” McGee said. “I’m your typical Texan because I love Texas and I believe that it’s the best state.” Texas is where she found her love of volleyball which she credits to family members and some memorable coaches.
McGee believes that a female coach during junior high inspired her love of volleyball.
“She’s the reason that I want to be a junior high coach now. It all starts from the moment you touch the [volleyball], and she was the person that handed me the ball the first time.”
McGee feels junior high is a crucial point where decisions are made that affect the rest of one’s life. One of her decisions was volleyball.
“There was a little girl that fell in love with the game and if you lose her then you kinda lose your love of the game,” she said. “I love talking about junior high. I wanna coach it for the rest of my life.”
McGee feels that the people that led her in volleyball helped her learn valuable life lessons.
“They taught me how to love the game the most, but also how to love myself and to love other people which is huge in being a player and a person,” she stated. “You have to love yourself and you have to love other people because you have to deal with yourself and you have to deal with other people.”
She practices this lesson not only as a team player, but in other walks of life as well. Off the court and the campus, McGee is very busy in a local church.
“I was really involved with my church at home so I do a couple things here with a church, Community Bible Church,” she said. “Trying to get involved with the Christian community is my outlet…for the sake of being around people that believe the same things that I do.”
With equal passion she explained her post-graduation plans. “I’m going to Africa for six months in January,” she said. “It’s a mission trip called Immersion. We are going to three different countries. They have organizations in each of those places that they work with. There’s a disabilities center and a school.”
McGee wanted to explore after graduation and, through this trip, she is going to do just that.
“It’s always like: graduate, get married, get a job, have babies, or whatever. I don’t wanna start that era of my life yet,” she said.
For now, McGee is content to finish out another strong season with the Pirates and to use what she learns to propel her to greater adventure in January.
