Ansley Baker’s constant improvement has led her to WVSU
LANCASTER, Ohio — Getting the opportunity to play the sport you love at the collegiate level after years of hard work is very rewarding.
For senior volleyball player Ansley Baker, this dream will become a reality as she prepares to take her talents to West Virginia State University.
After transitioning from swimming to volleyball, the 5-foot-10 outside hitter from Lancaster talked about her progression over the years and how she continues to get better.
Baker started to play volleyball from a young age and fell in love with the sport and decided to dedicate her time to it.
She credits her dad for suggesting she play club volleyball to better her skills. At the time, Baker was unsure about the decision.
“I did not want to do it when I was 12,” she said. “I was nervous and scared and then he pushed me to make me go to tryouts.”
Baker’s confidence began to rise as she became an early standout on her club team.
When she was 14, she played for a bigger club team where she competed against girls across the country.
“It was really awesome,” she said. “I got to travel all over the place. We have tournaments in Georgia, Chicago, we went to Las Vegas last year, it was awesome, and I got to meet a lot of new people throughout it too.”
Gaining all of this exposure made Baker a better volleyball player and she said that she wouldn’t be the player she is today if it wasn’t for it.
Playing club volleyball year-round allowed Baker to stay well-conditioned and develop new skills which would help her out during the high school season.
As a freshman, she played varsity at Fairfield Christian and then transferred to Lancaster High School at the start of her sophomore year.
It was a rough transition as Baker suffered an ankle injury during the preseason and was out for six weeks. The process was hard since this was a new school and Baker had to work extra hard every day to eventually reclaim her spot on the team.
She said that going through that made her stronger and she appreciates her teammates for making the transition easy.
“I remember when I got hurt, they brought me flowers and candy the next day,” she said. “Everyone was super welcoming.”
Alongside playing high school volleyball, she played club volleyball for Mintonette Sports where she improved on skills like ball control.
As an undersized outside hitter, she stressed the importance of increasing her vertical jump. These improvements helped her a lot in terms of recruiting which led her to West Virginia State University.
She was recruited by the coach after he came to several of Baker’s club volleyball tournaments. There was another factor that led to Baker’s decision.
“We kinda know him because he’s a guy from Lancaster,” Baker said. “He coached my high school coach when she was in high school so it’s also nice just to have like a familiar face.”
Baker said she knew in her heart that West Virginia State was where she wanted to be after a campus visit and would commit to play there back in November.
Baker wrapped up her senior volleyball season at Lancaster and is currently playing club to get extra reps in as she prepares to play at the next level.
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