Starr player: Tulare Western outside hitter reaches 1,000 career kills

Avery Starr didn't really get to experience a real high school volleyball season as a freshman due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When she first started practices with the Mustangs a few years ago they played outdoors on the grass.

It wasn't until her sophomore year that Starr got the opportunity to play in an official varsity high school match on a gym floor.

Two and a half seasons later, she has set her mark.

Starr registered 1,000 career kills on Sept. 14 in a 25-11, 25-18, 25-12 rout of Hanford West.

According to Central Section historian Bob Barnett, Kings Christian's Morghan Williams holds the section record with 1,569 kills from 2008-11.

“It just like a big accomplishment because I have been playing volleyball ever since I was like 10,” Starr said. “It’s been ingrained in me to be a good volleyball player. It’s just crazy.”

Starr, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter, enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign in 2021, scattering 416 kills.

More: See Tulare County's top high school sports performers for Week 6 of the fall season

The following season, she fired 375 kills and has already surpassed 300 kills as a senior.

As of Sept. 24, Starr has tallied 307 kills and entered this week with 1,098 career kills. She is averaging 4.7 kills per set in 2023.

How does it feel to rack up more than 1,000 kills?

“It’s like surreal,” Starr said. “It doesn’t feel like I hit 1,000 because, I don’t know, it’s crazy. … When I get a kill, and I help my team change the momentum in the game, it’s really an amazing feeling, especially if everyone is feeling down. It’s just one point, but that one point, it can change everything in the game.”

The road to a thousand kills means Starr has leaped at least a thousand times while hitting a volleyball.

“It’s tiring but I go to the gym and do some conditioning to get used to it,” Starr said.

Tulare Western head coach Kaylee Taylor has known Starr for several years now.

When she became the Mustangs' new head coach last season, she built the team around Starr. That has resulted in 38 combined victories from 2022-23.

Tulare Western rolled into this week with an overall 19-12 record, including a 3-0 mark in West Yosemite League play.

Starr is one of several reasons why the Mustangs have ended up on the winning side this season.

“She’s just a great person,” Taylor said. “She’s a great student. She’s always positive. She’s a great leader on the court. She’s just one of those perfect athletes that you just want no matter what sport you have. You want her on your team.”

Starr is responsible for half of Tulare Western’s kills this season. The Mustangs have registered 612 kills through 71 sets with 307 coming from the team’s star hitter.

She had one of her best statistical performances of the year when she logged 29 kills in a five-set loss to El Diamante.

Starr has had at least four matches this season where she finished with at least 20 kills or more.

In stats reported to MaxPreps.com, Starr’s 307 kills currently ranked as the seventh-most in the state as of Sept. 24.

“It’s good to rely on somebody,” Taylor said. “If I need to tell my setter, ‘Hey, get the ball to her,’ I know that she will be able to do something with that, so that’s so good. She’s so smart on the court. She knows when to swing, when to hit, when to tip. Those sorts of things.”

Starr’s individual accomplishment couldn’t have been possible without her teammates, coaches and supporters, she said.

But there’s one player, Faith Powell, who she credits for part of her success.

Powell, a senior setter who is the daughter of Tulare Western athletic director Mike Powell, also celebrated a personal milestone this month.

More: Tulare County athlete of the week: Tulare Western's Faith Powell

Powell eclipsed 1,000 career assists in a three-set win over Dinuba on Sept. 21. In that match, she distributed 28 assists to reach the four-digit achievement.

“Me and Faith have like this strong relationship, she’s one of my best friends, we take constructive criticism very well,” Starr said. “I’ll tell her what needs to be fixed about a set and she does it. She’ll tell me what I need to fix about my hits. We have one of the best relationships I’ve ever had. She’s one of my best friends. It’s amazing playing with her.”

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Starr player: Tulare Western outside hitter reaches 1,000 career kills