Small, But Dynamite: Lydia Summerlin Packed A Powerful Punch

by Janice Penix

She may only be 5’1”, but as Lydia Summerlin’s coaches can attest, her effort and intensity are anything but small.

“If you’ve ever been around Lydia, you know she’s kinda short – but dynamite comes in small packages,” Wes Davis, Clarksville head volleyball coach, said.

Summerlin, who graduated Clarksville High School in May, was a lifelong softball player who decided to try her hand at volleyball as a freshman. Davis said she almost immediately made an impact.

“I think it was her ninth grade year when I took over the program, and she came out for volleyball,” he said. “She was a libero first. I noticed she didn’t have an off switch and would go after any ball she could remotely get close to playing.”

In volleyball, a libero is a back-row defensive specialist who focuses on passing, digging, and serve reception. While liberos are crucial in a team’s defense, often being the first line of defense against opposing attacks and keeping the ball in play, they cannot serve, block, or complete an attack hit from above the net.

Summerlin said she started playing volleyball because it seemed like an enjoyable sport to try.

“It just looked fun, so I decided to play,” she said. “I had played a little bit for fun before that, but I basically had to learn everything when I started. I felt like I picked it up pretty quick.”

Changing Her Position

Davis said her second season on the team, Summerlin found the position where she really excelled.

“When she was a sophomore, midway through the year, we moved her to the setter position where she seemed to shine chasing down balls and setting up hitters,” he said.

While a libero is a defensive specialist, setters in volleyball control the offense and “set” the ball for hitters. Setters can be compared to the quarterback on a football team, as they have to make critical decisions about who and when to set. To be effective, setters must be quick and agile to reach the ball from various positions on the court.

Summerlin said she felt at home in the setter’s position.

“I was really fast across the court, so I was able to get to balls that could be pretty hard to get to,” she said.

As a newcomer to the sport and later to the setter position, she said it could be challenging to learn all the ins and outs of volleyball.

“It was a lot, learning what everything means, the terminology, the calls,” she said. “For setting, there are multiple sets you can do to run multiple plays, and they all look different. So I had to learn each one. But I liked that it’s so fast; you’re constantly doing something. It’s fast-paced and you’re constantly going.”

Teams can have one or two setters on the court during a game, and during her junior season, Summerlin was the only one on the varsity team, a challenge she said she enjoyed.

“I liked being the only one. I got to play on the front row and it was a lot of fun,” she said.

Coming Into Her Own

“Her junior year, she started to come into her own in the position and put in some work in the offseason taking lessons in Conway,” Davis said. “I had several opposing coaches brag on her hustle. During her senior year, she matured as a setter and helped lead us to our first regional appearance…The full story appears in the July 16 edition of The Graphic, found online and in businesses throughout Johnson and Franklin counties.