UK commit Brooklyn DeLeye leads Washburn Rural on unbeaten run
TOPEKA, Kan. (BVM) — The undefeated Washburn Rural Blues are the No. 1-ranked Class 6A volleyball team in the state of Kansas. They’re also considered to be one of the best high school volleyball teams in the entire country.
It takes more than one player for a team to earn such a status, but Washburn Rural wouldn’t be one of the nation’s top teams without Brooklyn DeLeye, who’s arguably the best player in the state. The Blues’ 6-foot-2 star outside hitter, though only a junior, is already a two-time all-state selection who had over 1,000 career kills by the end of her sophomore season and she’s verbally committed to one of the best college volleyball programs in the country: the defending national champion Kentucky Wildcats.
It’s not exactly common for an athlete to be so accomplished through only two years of high school, but one has to look beyond DeLeye’s impressive resume to find out what truly makes her unique.
“She’s the only volleyball player I’ve ever had who comes in before a big match and has a detailed, three-or-four-page scouting report on the opponent that we’re playing,” said Kevin Bordewick, who’s in his 27th year as Washburn Rural’s head volleyball coach. “She really thinks about the game; she tries to improve in some area every day with her game. She’s a great teammate and she’s a very humble kid. She’s just what you would want your own daughter to be.”
DeLeye could’ve had a promising college career ahead of her in a different sport if she wanted. She’s been playing soccer since she was 4 years old and she’s also an all-state basketball player for the Blues. But nothing grabbed ahold of her quite the way volleyball did, and her older sister Macy, who now plays Division I volleyball at Drake University, played a role in that.
“For the longest time my favorite sport was soccer,” Brooklyn said. “I always grew up around soccer and basketball. Once I started playing volleyball, which my sister introduced me to when I was 9, right when I touched a ball I just knew — this is just a different thing for me. I loved practices, I loved games and I really couldn’t see myself playing anything else in college.”
And despite having plenty of options, Kentucky became the only college that Brooklyn could see herself playing for after she attended the Wildcats’ camp in July. The fact that UK can put a top-notch team on the court to compete for a national title is certainly intriguing for any recruit, but more important for Brooklyn was the fact that no other program made her feel as cared for on a personal level.
“During the whole recruitment process, everybody was kind of talking to me about volleyball, obviously, because that’s what I would be going for, but what kind of stuck with me was Kentucky really cared about who I was as a person and what my morals are,” Brooklyn said. “They really value their culture there so they obviously want top-notch athletes, but they also want great people as well. Other places just really wanted me for my volleyball skill, but they really cared for me as a person as well.”
With the next chapter of her volleyball career in Lexington nearly two years down the road, there’s still plenty of time for Brooklyn to accomplish a lot more while at Washburn Rural. She’s on her way to another 500-kill season this fall and she’s on pace to eventually break the school’s all-time record for kills. But individual accomplishments aside, a state title would mean more to Brooklyn, who helped lead the Blues to a 6A state runner-up finish in 2019 — as one of four starting freshmen — and a third-place finish last year.
“Ever since (freshman year) we’ve improved,” Brooklyn said. “This year we basically have the same team as last year and we’ve grown even more as a team and just have been connecting and our team chemistry has been really great so that has really played a key role.”
That chemistry has led to a perfect season thus far for the Blues, who head into this weekend’s sub-state tournament with a 36-0 record and a No. 1 seed. An unblemished record coupled with the fact that they’re ranked among the top 10 teams in the country will undoubtedly put a big target on Washburn Rural’s back, but Brooklyn is ready to prove that the Blues deserve to be held in such high regard.
“Yes it has a lot of pressure to it but we just know we worked so hard for that name for ourselves,” Brooklyn said. “We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing and take one game at a time and hopefully reach that end goal at the end of the season.”
