Hawai'i native Lilinoe Spencer smashes 1,000 career kills at Central Valley Christian
Lilinoe Spencer grew up in Hawai'i.
When she was younger, she never imagined that she would be playing high school volleyball in California. But when her parents accepted a job with a fire department in Lemoore, the Spencer family packed their bags for their new home in the Central San Joaquin Valley.
Because Spencer was a freshman at the time and was still playing club volleyball on the islands, she stayed behind while her family made the move to California a full year before her.
Through a family friend, the Spencers heard about Central Valley Christian's academic and sports excellence and enrolled Spencer's younger sister at the Visalia private school as a trial run.
It turned out to be a good fit for the family and Spencer arrived at CVC by her sophomore season.
About three years later, Spencer is one of the top hitters in the Central Section. She registered career kill No. 1,000 in a four-set loss to Exeter on Oct. 2 in a Tri-County Conference match.
"To be completely honest, it's nice to know that I got that within three seasons," Spencer said of her personal milestone.
Through Oct. 13, Spencer has amassed 1,035 career kills at CVC. She scattered 222 kills as a sophomore. That was followed by an outstanding 477-kill junior campaign. As a senior, she has recorded 336 kills, which is ranked as the 29th-most in the state in stats reported by MaxPreps.com.
What's it like to smash a kill?
"It feels nice to have the crowd yell for you knowing that you gave that point for your team to end it and start the next round," Spencer said.
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During Spencer's junior year, CVC advanced to the 2022 CIF State Division IV championship match but fell to Ripon Christian 19-25, 25-27, 17-25. The Cavaliers also finished as the runner-up for the Central Section Division II title that same season.
Today, CVC is on the verge of another memorable run. The Cavaliers entered Tuesday with an overall 26-7 record and can clinch at least a share of the Tri-County Conference-Kings Canyon championship with a win on Wednesday at Exeter (27-10).
The Monarchs are currently in first place in the conference standings with a 7-0 record. CVC is 6-1 in league play.
Spencer leads a CVC team that is also headlined by junior Lola Highstreet (166 kills, 63 blocks), Emma Mihalcin (149 kills, 214 digs, 350 serves received), senior Sophia Fields (60 aces, 147 digs, 555 assists) and senior Grace Van Groningen (341 digs, 400 serves received).
"We knew we had to try a lot harder this year because we lost about seven or eight seniors," Spencer said. "We knew that we would come up short if we didn't try our hardest. We really had to put the pedal to the metal."
Spencer is responsible for nearly 40% of the team's kills this season. She has also tallied 54 aces, 37 blocks, 317 digs, 19 assists and 244 serves received.
Under head coach Bucky Kroeze, CVC has averaged nearly 25 wins per season since the 2018 campaign with a pair of perfect league championship seasons in 2019 and 2021, respectively.
What's it like to continue that winning tradition?
"It's kind of high pressured but the feeling of when you do achieve it, it's just like, you're on a high," Spencer said. "You just have to keep going."
How have the Cavaliers been so consistent under Kroeze?
"We've been blessed with having some good athletes the last four to five years," Kroeze said. "It certainly helps in trying to compete with some of those Clovis schools that, you know, have 2,500 kids. Our school with 350, it does make it a challenge to compete every year but all things considered, we're just plugging away, trying to continue to develop the program from playing club in the offseason. That's been our recipe for success is keeping them active and keeping them playing volleyball."
Spencer is averaging 4.1 kills per set and has a nearly 38% kill rate.
"We're going to miss her next year for sure," Kroeze said. "She’s certainly one of those go-to players that we go to a lot this year. She's been a great leader on and off the court. She's just one of those kids whose attitude is great and just very coachable. She's a pleasure to have on the team."
How did the 6-foot-1 Spencer get into volleyball?
"It was my grandpa and my mom who put me in that sport after playing softball and flag football and none of them stuck but volleyball," Spencer said. "It was comforting. I'm glad they decided to push me in that direction. It's nice to know that volleyball stuck and I found a sport that I liked."
Spencer will play college volleyball next season at Cal Poly Pomona — an NCAA Division II program that is a member of the California Collegiate Athletic Association. She is planning to major in criminal justice with the end goal of becoming either a detective or an FBI agent.
"I'm very grateful," Spencer said. "I'm excited because now I get to not only study my major that I'm looking forward to studying but I also get to play the sport that I love."
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Hawai'i native Lilinoe Spencer smashes 1,000 career kills at CVC
