Lincoln-Way Central junior Kiera King is 5-foot-9. But she plays taller.
How much taller? Her inquiring mind wanted to know, so she asked Knights coach Mary Brown to measure her vertical.
“Ha-ha, I did,” King said. “It was just kind of a curious question. I’ve never had my vertical tested. I wanted to see how much I’ve grown.”
The answer is yet to come.
“I said, ‘Yeah, we’ll test you when we find the vertical tester,'” Brown said. “We actually have one. It’s just an old-timer, not like the ones they use now. I’d dare to guess she’s upper 20s, maybe 30 inches.”
Her numbers stood tall Thursday for Lincoln-Way Central in a 25-18, 25-22 SouthWest Suburban Blue victory over Homewood-Flossmoor.
King filled the stat sheet for the Knights (9-2, 1-0) with five kills, 10 assists, seven digs and two blocks. Mia Mattingly added 10 kills, while Alyssa Teske had three kills and 13 assists and Madelyn Freiberg contributed 15 digs.
LaDonna Trantham led H-F (4-6, 0-1) with six kills. Chidera Ozoh added four blocks, while Emma Dieringer dished 13 assists.
King shares the setting duties with Teske. They often set each other when they aren’t giving the ball to Mattingly in the middle.
“It’s really fun to have two setters who can go all the way around, hit and play defense,” King said. “I love working with Alyssa. She knows exactly what I want and I know exactly what she wants. We work great together.
“Even with the middles, we’ve come a long way since last season. We have really picked it up, and they’re pounding the ball every time.”
King and Teske came up to the varsity together halfway through their freshman season.
More Top Picks Best Laptops For Working From Home
The talent was there. But so was something else.
“I saw that both of them had a competitive spirit that not everybody has,” Brown said. “And it’s something you can’t coach. I had a lot of that when I coached at North.
“Over there, they were very competitive and were a little bit ornery. Here, everybody was a little too nice. I noticed they had that little bit of orneriness and a competitive spirit that we needed.”
Really? Ornery?
“Mostly on the court, yes,” King said, laughing. “I’m very passionate about playing. There are a lot of emotions. When I get excited, I get really excited. When I get angry, I get pretty angry.”
Teske didn’t disagree.
“She gets very fired up,” Teske said. “And it’s nice. Everyone can count on her. Like if we need her for a point, she’s going to do what she can to put the ball down and get us the point.”
King was key in helping the Knights pull away during a stretch in Game 1 where they turned a 10-9 deficit into an 18-11 lead.
First, King went back-to-back on sets to Teske and Mattingly for kills. A few points later, she again put the ball in the perfect spot for a Mattingly slam. Moments later, she had a block for kill.
King also came up big during a back-and-forth Game 2 when she put down a kill for the Knights’ 24th point.
“Kiera wants the ball when the going’s tough,” Brown said. “She wants you to set her, and she also does some pretty creative things with the ball.
“The thing about Kiera, too, is that no matter what happens, she takes the blame. She could have an absolutely perfect set, have somebody hit it in the net, and she’ll be very positive.
“She does it all. Her blocks are there, her sets are there, her kills are there. She’s just a well-rounded player.”