She is one of Polk County's top volleyball players of all time. Meet McKeel's Juleigh Urbina
LAKELAND —Juleigh Urbina began playing varsity volleyball for McKeel when she was in the seventh grade and immediately was one of the top 14 players in the county. She quickly moved up the ranks to where she became one of the top players in the state and one of the top players in Polk County history.
A setter, Urbina capped her career by leading the Wildcats to the most wins in school history, a district title and a trip to the regional semifinals.
Urbina is The Ledger’s 2023 Volleyball Player of the Year.
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It’s been quite a run for Urbina. She was second team all county as a seventh grader, first team as an eighth-grader and freshman and is now a three-time player of the year.
“I think it was great while it lasted,” Urbina said as she looked back on her high school career. “I made so many memories. And just playing with the same girls, especially with my mom as the coach, is the best feeling in the world. I just thank everyone for it.”
Even by the time she was in the seventh grade, Urbina had solid skills as a setter that she continued to polish and improve in high school and in elite-level club play. However, it’s not the physical parts of her game that have improved that she is most proud.
“When I started as a freshman, I didn’t really know the game yet, and I kind of just went through the motions,” she said. “My attitude wasn’t the best. Growing up and working on my attitude is what I was trying to fix. It just got way better along with my volleyball IQ.”
Urbina said that she always wanted to win so much that when things weren’t going well, she didn’t know how to handle it.
“I had the face that I don’t want to be here,” she said. “It was very hard to get out of that bad habit, but I eventually got there. I matured. I got way more positive and encouraging more like a leader on the court. I had to change it because it wasn’t good for my future, going into college. College coaches look at how you play, how’s your attitude and how you reflect on the court to your coaches and to your teammates. So I definitely had to change that.”
Playing high-level club helped her improve her volleyball IQ. As the setter, she’s the quarterback on the court, and she has the ability to employ a wide variety of sets at different positions to keep opponents off balance.
With two strong outside hitters like Mallorie Swartz, who could also make back-row attacks, and Mariana Kleinhenz, two top middle hitters in Luci Lippelgoos and Hope Kimsey and a strong right-side hitter in Dublin Fitzgerald, she could employ a complete playbook when running the high school team’s attack.
“I think that helped me tremendously having three hitters on my front row as options and our defense got a lot better,” she said. “It was definitely more fun having another middle (Lippelgoos) and not just Hope and having Dublin on the right side so I didn’t have to feed Mallorie all the time. It was easier to move the ball around more.”
It all added up to her best year season. She finished with 749 assists in 79 sets played. Last year, she had 679 assists in 81 sets, and 609 assists in 87 sets as a sophomore. She finished her career with 3,306 assists.
As much as she wants to win and enjoys winning, volleyball has become more for her and not just a way to get into college.
“I think I enjoy it more because I look at volleyball more as my outlet where I can go to get my feelings out, get my stress out,” she said. “Playing the game, you have to have a love for the game to continue playing.”
Urbina’s next step is college. She originally said yes to Oklahoma but decommitted after a coaching change and signed with Georgetown. She is the second Polk player to sign with Georgetown for volleyball as Bartow's Femi Sobowale signed in 2011.
In terms of college recruiting, Urbina graduates as one of the biggest recruits in Polk history along with George Jenkins’ Jennifer Werrick, who signed with Florida State in the late ‘90s, and Lakeland’s Krista Andersen, who signed with Villanova in 2008 and Sobowale.
“I don’t talk about it but deep down, I’m proud of this accomplishment because it’s something a lot of people can not do,” she said. “It’s pretty cool for Polk County.”
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: McKeel's Juleigh Urbina leaves as as a 3-time volleyball player of the year
