Kamryn Lee-Caracci doesn’t like stereotypes, including any about the position she plays.
The Lyons senior is one of the top middle hitters in the state and said the position doesn’t get the respect it deserves.
“People always say the middles are the stupidest players, and I kind of hated getting that title, especially with how hard I work in school,” Lee-Caracci said.
If the disrespect came from another teenager, that would be one thing. But she said she heard it from a club coach, and that really got her riled up.
“We had a new coach come this year, and he was the one who said that,” Lee-Caracci said. “He’s not one of my favorite coaches, to be honest.
“If he’s saying that’s what we’re known for, that enrages me and makes me want to be a smart middle and not one that just hits and blocks all the time.
“I feel like there’s more to being a middle than just actually standing on the court and making yourself present. You need to be loud. You need to be there for your teammates.”
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The Georgetown-bound Lee-Caracci has a weighted GPA of 5.09 on a 4.0 scale and has loaded her schedule with some of the toughest classes Lyons offers. This semester she is taking Advanced Placement classes in Spanish, computer science, math and English, and she also is taking organic chemistry and computer programming in Python.
“Kamryn has an impressive course load, as do a lot of our girls,” Lyons coach Jill Bober said. “We come from a very smart and bright bunch, and it’s fun to also pair that with our athletic side as well. We’re students of the game, and I think that’s really fun.”
‘A smart middle’
Success in the classroom doesn’t always translate in sports, but it does in Lee-Caracci’s case. She can see the parallels.
“I’d definitely say I’m more of a smart player on the court,” she said. “At club, I’ve always tried to show them that I’m a smart middle.
“I’m obviously not as tall as most middles are, which made me want to work harder to be more of a thinker and not just a hitter and blocker.”
The 6-foot-1 Lee-Caracci is more than just a middle. She’s able to play several positions. That isn’t unusual. But her ability to excel at more than one is rare.
Lee-Caracci has played right side, middle and outside for the Lions, who went 32-4 and won a Class 4A regional title before losing to Marist in a sectional semifinal last season.
“She’s a great athlete,” Bober said. “She can play any position that we need her to, and it’s awesome to see that out of her.
“She played middle for us her sophomore year. Last year we had her playing right side, and this year we have her playing more outside. She is a full-faceted player that can play front row and back row.”
Junior setter Abby Markworth, a third-year starter, and Lee-Caracci joined the varsity team two years ago and quickly became tight.
“I met Kam my freshman year,” Markworth said. “It was the weird COVID year, but right away we were best friends from the start. We kind of instantly connected on the court and off the court, which is nice. Our setter connection between me and her was super nice.
“We’ve been tweaking it, trying to run faster-tempo things lately, so it’s cool to see where we started my freshman year up until now. We keep going higher.”
There are many players who are taller than Lee-Caracci, but few can jump as high as she can. She can touch 10 feet, 2 inches, and she uses this leaping ability to smash the ball down at steep angles.
“It’s definitely nice having a hitter like Kam on the team that is super strong,” Markworth said. “As a setter, I can always trust her. I know in pressure moments she’s going to put the ball down, she’s going to find the spot. She’s always on your side, being that big, dominant hitter.”
Lee-Caracci can bring the thunder from anywhere on the court. Her attempts don’t always come from the pins.
Markworth often sets Lee-Caracci in the middle or from the back row, which can create havoc for defenses.
“It definitely gives us a super-big advantage because Kam has played every position,” Markworth said. “So she can run fast-tempo outside balls, and she can also run any type of middle plays.
“I could tell her ‘run a slide,’ and she would feel comfortable with that. It picks up our offense because she’s able to run inside sets, outside sets, up-tempo and not up-tempo.”
That can lead to confusion on the other side of the net.
“It keeps the other team on its toes because they don’t know what she’s running and where she’s running it,” Markworth said. “A lot of teams when they’re scouting us are like, ‘Oh, they have Kam, a big hitter.’ But they don’t know where she’s hitting from.”
But Lee-Caracci seems to gravitate toward a particular area.
“I feel like my strength comes from just being in the center of the court, for some reason,” she said. “Any ball Abby sets me in any way, whether it’s inside or behind, for some reason I can hit one way or the other, which is what being a middle gave me the strength to do.”
Multisport background
Lee-Caracci has always been a strong athlete, and not just on the volleyball court. She played softball and soccer through middle school and intended to play soccer in high school, in part to follow in the footsteps of her sister Jordan, a star forward.
Jordan Lee-Caracci led the Lyons girls soccer team in scoring as a senior in 2021, when the Lions went 20-1 and finished second in Class 3A. She plays club soccer at Butler.
“I was hoping to make varsity with my sister my freshman year,” Kamryn Lee-Caracci said. “But it didn’t work out.”
Instead, she was placed on the freshman A team, but a sprained ankle prompted her to make a difficult decision.
“I always wanted to play a sport in college, and I was planning on playing soccer in college, but I didn’t get as much exposure,” Lee-Caracci said. “Volleyball gave me a lot more exposure, and the club I was playing for showed me a lot about recruiting.”
The decision to concentrate on volleyball also was a result of a jam-packed schedule. When she began playing club volleyball at age 11, she was on the lowest team, but she got moved up to the top team when she was 14.
“Once I made it to the top, we’d travel out of state for tournaments on weekends. We were going to nationals,” Lee-Caracci said. “I was able to do that with soccer, too, for two years.
“But once COVID hit, I noticed the weaknesses soccer was giving me when it came to volleyball. I had really bad knee problems in soccer. When I sprained my ankle, that was it. I loved all three sports, but it was a lot.”
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Although Lee-Caracci chose a different sport, her rise has taken a similar path as her sister’s did.
“She had always been one of those lower players,” Lee-Caracci said. “She wasn’t a freshman varsity player, not sophomore year either. It took her awhile to show her presence on varsity, and that kind of happened with me too.
“I was on sophomores my freshman year, and then I moved up to varsity my sophomore year. It was frustrating for me at first. My sister helped me get through that and understand that showing my presence on any team is the most important thing.”
Both eventually took leadership roles.
“When Jordan was on varsity her senior year, she was one of the captains, and she did so much for the team,” Lee-Caracci said. “It gave her so much exposure.
“When they were going to state, she was a player that all of my friends would comment about to me. I always wanted to be the same as my sister, so that’s why this year — now that I’m a captain and a senior on varsity — is so much fun.”
Leading the Lions
The Lions have been having plenty of fun this season, winning 21 of their first 24 matches. Lee-Caracci had a team-high 262 kills, was second with 23 aces, and was fourth with 106 digs and 23 blocks.
Senior defensive specialist Cami Schodrof appreciates Lee-Caracci’s leadership as much as her skill.
“She never gets down, which is really important,” Schodrof said. “She always has a positive attitude, whether it’s a good or bad pass. She always takes control when we’re in huddle especially, and she always gives us her positive input. It’s really helpful.”
Lee-Caracci is willing to help the Lions at any position, an attitude she plans to take with her to college. She said Georgetown’s coaching staff has told her she will play middle as a freshman and perhaps outside or right side after that.
“Ever since I started playing volleyball when I was 11, I’ve always been known as a tool player,” Lee-Caracci said. “I was a setter my first year, and then I went to playing right side, then outside, then middle.
“So I’ve always known how to play every position. Even when I was at a different position, I was always told to go to setting practice and kind of be able to do more than one position.”
Markworth laughs at the stereotype that suggests otherwise.
“That’s so funny,” she said. “They always say the middles are in the middle of everything, so being versatile is a big thing as a middle.
“Usually, I can only loft the balls to middles, and that’s all they can do. But Kam can do so many other things. She’s so athletic, which is super cool to see from a middle.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.