SPRING GARDEN – In sixth grade, Spring Garden senior volleyball outside hitter Haleigh Molock had a dream of playing the sport at Penn State.
On Thursday afternoon, Molock signed a scholarship with a state college, but one much closer to home – and a lighter shade of blue. She’s now officially a member of the Snead State Community College Lady Parsons.
“I realized as I got older that (playing at Penn State) was probably not going to happen, but I just wanted to play in college for four years, have the best time I can, and work as hard as I can,” Molock said.
Molock already has the working hard part down pat. Last season, she managed 310 kills, 65 aces and 65 assists as the Class 2A Lady Panthers (35-10) returned to the Final Four.
But the statistics only tell part of who Molock is, according to Spring Garden volleyball coach Ricky Austin.
“I made mention before she signed that on every good team you’ve got to have at least one alpha. I felt like she’s been our alpha for all three years she’s been here (with Austin),” he said. “She’s who we put the ball to. We want her to set the tempo. She’s carried us on her back many, many times in some big games.
“Haleigh’s the centerpiece of a lot of things we’ve done here the last three years. You look back two years ago, we made it to the semifinals in 1A and the eventual state champion put us out. In 2A this year, we made it to the semifinals and the state champion put us out. I don’t think any of that would have been possible without a Haleigh Molock on the team.”
Austin said the first time he talked with Molock about volleyball, he realized how serious she was.
“The very first time our paths crossed in volleyball she let me know real quick she wanted to be a college volleyball player and she wants to be a high school volleyball coach,” Austin said. “Those are special kids who can realize that at a young age. You see part of it being fulfilled today, knowing she’s going to play college. She’s got the work ethic and the drive it takes to survive in college and be successful.
“I’m just so proud for her and proud for our program to know that a product like her is coming out of us. Haleigh’s a great worker, a great person. You won’t find anybody who will out-work her. That’s the rewards, when you have those kind of people who have a goal, and they’re good people, who treat their teammates well and have an unbelievable drive. This is the results of it.”
Molock said she’s already gotten familiar with several of her new teammates after a recruiting visit. She said they remind her of the ones she’s had at Spring Garden.
“They all treated me like family whenever I practiced with them,” Molock said. “They were super welcoming and are very excited to have me there. I just hope I can bring something to them. Coach Rat (Austin) and all our coaches here have trained us a little differently than other schools. I just hope I can bring that with me to Snead.”
Austin feels the sky’s the limit for Molock. He said she’s improved every year he’s coached her and feels like “her window of potential is still very wide open.”
“I can’t wait to watch her play and see how she fits in the college scene,” Austin said. “Her travel coach (Averi Millhoff) was here today. I was speaking to her and she was talking about how she’s been of her favorites since she was 14. We had the same similarities we talked about, how she’s such a hustler, how she’s such a hard worker, how she will play herself to exhaustion. It was the first time I ever talked to her travel coach, but we had the same feelings about Haleigh. She’s nothing but a winner.”
Molock said her new coach Angie Sanders told her she has the potential to play all six rotations. That suits Molock just fine, because she’s already used to that.
“I’ll be happy if I’m just on the team getting to play,” she said. “I’m just happy to have more years of volleyball. I’m thankful and very blessed for this opportunity.”