Gators recruit Alexis Stucky ‘can do it all’
LARAMIE, Wyo. (BVM) — Alexis Stucky fell in love with volleyball at an early age, which is not surprising, considering the sport is in her blood.
Her mother, Jill Stucky, played for the University of Wyoming before moving on to coach at the University of Kansas and at her alma mater. And it was during Jill’s college-coaching years when she fondly recalls Alexis first took interest in her mother’s sport of choice.
“I took her recruiting with me one time and she saw a bunch of kids playing in a tournament and her jaw just dropped,” Jill said, “and she came over to me at about 7 years old and said, ‘Mom, when can I play?’ So we started her at about 9 years old and we’ve been going strong ever since.”
Now Alexis is the top high school volleyball player in her home state of Wyoming and she’s committed to play Division I volleyball for the Florida Gators after she finishes her Laramie High School career next year. This past fall, the Gatorade Wyoming Volleyball Player of the Year helped lead the Laramie Lady Plainsmen to a 25-0 season and their first state title in 26 years while playing alongside her freshman sister, Maddy, and under the guidance of Jill, who was convinced by her daughters to return for her second head-coaching stint with Laramie.
“I love playing for my mom,” Alexis said. “She always tells me the truth; she doesn’t sugarcoat anything so I feel like I get a lot better.”
Thanks in part to her mother’s counsel, Alexis has grown into an all-around star on the volleyball court. The three-time all-state selection recorded 419 kills, 371 digs, 35 service aces and 32 blocks as a junior for the unbeaten Lady Plainsmen.
“Alexis Stuckey is, hands down, the best volleyball player in the state of Wyoming,” Campbell County head coach Marcy Befus said in a Gatorade press release. “She can do it all. She can hit any shot, she’s a great blocker, she has great hands. All that said, I’m most impressed with her defense.”
That ability to do it all will benefit Alexis in a big way when she’s competing in the SEC. Ranked as the No. 16 player in the Class of 2022 by PrepVolleyball.com, Alexis had plenty of options when it came to where she would play collegiately. Utah and Minnesota were also considered among her top three choices, but the chance to play for legendary Florida coach Mary Wise was too good to pass up.
“It was pretty evident that Alexis was interested in playing for a woman because in her future she would really like to be a coach herself,” Jill said, “and the best way to coach like a woman is to learn from another woman and so we spent a lot of time looking into successful female head coaches that Alexis could really use as a good mentor.”
And who better to learn from than the all-time winningest female coach in Division I history? After attending a camp at Florida at the end of her eighth-grade year, Alexis was sold on the Gators.
“I just really loved the relationship I built with her,” Alexis said of Wise. “That was one of the biggest things that brought me there.”
Alexis was recruited to be a future setter for Florida, but before she makes the long trek from Laramie to Gainesville, she’ll have one more year to dominate as a 6-foot-2 outside hitter who can do it all for the Lady Plainsmen. And despite having a state championship and the state’s top award already under belt, she’s still driven to do more before heading for Florida.
“The awards are great, but I definitely want to win state again,” Alexis said. “I think we have a really good team and we’d like to keep the momentum we finished last year with going into this year.”
