Hello and welcome back to Let's Talk Choctaws with Meeby and Kienna!

This week we had the pleasure of sitting down with Lexie Laurendine, a junior volleyball player from Clinton, Mississippi. During their most recent season, she became the first Choctaw since 2010 to earn all-conference honors. She led the GSC in triple doubles and led the team in assists and service aces. She started and competed in all 33 matches last season. She has a passion for her sport and has a strong ability to lead and connect with others.

Lexie has a very busy schedule this year, but she likes it that way. She's a general kinesiology major, and has recently taken an interest in political science. "I was just exposed to it last semester, and I find it really interesting," she said. One of her favorite classes this semester is a mock trial class with case studies. "I'm still learning, but it's cool to see how the mock trial team works, and what they have to do." She's still debating on whether she'll join the mock trial team- (debating? Get it?) but we know that Lexie is a great asset to any team that she chooses to be on.

Lexie is enjoying getting to know her team more this semester with some of the free time they have due to reduced practice times because of Covid-19 precautions. "We all try to make a conscious effort to hang out outside volleyball, like on the weekends when we don't have anything going on," said Lexie.  She expressed some frustration in that it's been hard to spend time with her teammates while still practicing social distancing. The team is hoping to be able to hang out again at Coach Laurendine's house after some of the restrictions are lifted. Right now, most of their time has been spent in small groups and Lexie is looking forward to having more time together as a full team.

This semester has been strange for the team from the start. Normally the volleyball team would come to campus early, have a preseason for a week, and then start competing on the court immediately. With the restrictions, their season has been pushed to the spring. "I've always wanted to be a spring sport so our team can have that offseason to get to know each other before we start playing", said Lexie, "I think it's helped because we've been able to go a lot harder in the weight room and practices, and work out a lot of different points of weaknesses that we wouldn't get to during the fall.I think we've all tremendously surpassed every expectation."

Lexie has a great connection with her teammates. "There is not one girl on the team that I wouldn't want to spend time with. I love everyone on our team," she said. "Everyone is super genuine and they have so much love for one another and for the program." Lexie told us that it's not very common that you have a roster that is so committed to each other, but she thinks that this team is really something special. "The whole team wants to put in the work and has passion for the sport," she said. Three new freshmen are coming onto the team this season and they are training hard and proving themselves. Lexie described how far the freshman have come in just a few short months. "Each person on the team has been really good at following the rules and working hard to get better every day," said Lexie. "It will be very interesting to see what happens when we start playing; we have such a close team this year and I'm really excited for that."

Lexie is put into an unusual position on the team- not many athletes can say that they are coached by their mother. However, there are two others on campus who can relate: Tony Gilbert (whose father is the defensive coordinator for the football team) and Zach Jones (whose grandfather is the head coach of the basketball team) have proven to be excellent friends and confidants to Lexie through the years. "I love them, and they're in the same position as me. It's nice to be able to talk to someone who can understand." Even though she is in this atypical situation, Lexie has worked hard to show her team that she can be trusted. "If my teammates can't trust me, then what are we going to do?" she said.  She was voted captain of the team last year, which was a testament to her leadership abilities. "I want to be someone they can rely on," she said, "and someone who can be a friend to each person on the team."

Before coming to MC, Lexie studied and played volleyball for two years at The Baylor School in Chattanooga, TN, which is a boarding school. It was an hour away from where her family was living at the time, but it gave her an opportunity to hone her skills and prepare for collegiate volleyball. Now, Lexie is able to catch up on lost family time. "Growing a better connection with my mom and the rest of my family while I've been here has been so good to see," she said.

The volleyball team has several team-building traditions, but one is particularly legendary. Each year before their season begins, the team has a "Lip-Sync Battle." They are divided into teams of three or four people and have a few weeks to practice their songs. "Last year, me, Sloan [FitzHenry], and Ingrid [Savola] did 'Hollaback Girl'," Lexie recalled, "and we took bananas from the Caf to take as props on our road trip." In case you aren't familiar, there's a part of the song where Gwen Stefani spells out bananas- "and we threw them into the crowd during that part. It was classic," she laughed. "We had special outfits and everything." Although Lexie's group did not secure the victory that year, she assured us it was "very close." She hopes that the team will be able to do something like that this year, maybe as some restrictions are lifted as things become more safe.

Lexie gave us permission to write that she did, in fact, come out of the womb with a volleyball in her hand. Her mom has been coaching volleyball ever since she was born, and so she grew up around the sport. Lexie first started playing competitively on a 12 and under team when she was nine years old, and ever since then she has played each year. "It's been ingrained in my head since I was really young," she said. "I've always wanted to go into college coaching like my mom and my dad. That's just something that's kind of natural for me.

Whatever Lexie decides to do with her life, we know that her hard work and leadership will go a long way. Her enthusiasm as she spoke about the team and this upcoming season was contagious, and we can't wait to see her shine on the court this spring!

Thank you for reading, and be sure to come back next Monday to hear from our next guest.