We’re proud to officially begin an ongoing partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods, which is sponsoring our new Player of the Week program. Moving forward we’ll be releasing a featured vballrecruiter.com Player of the Week, sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods. Below is our initial Player of the Week: Reagan Ennist.
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Like countless before her, it didn’t take Reagan Ennist long to fall in love with volleyball. The 6-2, 4-star outside hitter from the Class of 2025 currently plays for TeamLVC 17-1 – which is participating in 17 Aspire for the upcoming AAUs Girls National Championships later this summer – but didn’t grow up playing the sport. She tried everything from softball to basketball to swimming while also sticking to competitive gymnastics for eight years.
Then volleyball came along.
After watching her older sister, Ryan, play Ennist decided it was time to get out of gymnastics and into a new sport.
“I watched her games and they were fast-paced plus I wanted to be around a team sport,” Ennist said.
We’ve talked to players before who stopped doing gymnastics because they simply outgrew the sport due to their height. However, Ennist said that wasn’t the case with her. She was actually shorter than most of her friends in sixth grade and didn’t start her growth spurt until seventh grade.
By the time Ennist was playing her first year at Shenendehowa in New York as an eighth-grader she knew she wanted to continue playing in college. Having grown to 6-2 and touching over 10 feet, Ennist should have no trouble in making that happen. She’s considered one of the top recruits in the country, though she might fly under the radar, and will be sought after in the coming weeks when the recruiting period officially begins.
Ennist recently quit track and field, where she competed in high, long and triple jump, to focus on volleyball. Even though she captured the Section II high jump title as a freshman volleyball is where her heart is.
“I think my absolute favorite thing is being able to play with different girls from around the country,” Ennist said. “I’ve been playing with different people and different styles. I love the traveling and the different coaching.”
As our featured Player of the Week sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, we recently spoke with Ennist about volleyball and more.
Who is your role model or icon you look up to?
Ennist: Definitely the two who stick out to me the most is Jordan Larson. I met her last year at the Drive Nation camp in Texas. It’s seeing not just how much of a great player she is, but what a leader she is on the court. That’s something I strive to be in all my years I play. Second, she is actually from around where I grew up, is Emma Werkmeister. She plays at UCONN. I look up to her because New York is not a huge volleyball state. I competed against her a lot last year. She’s an amazing player and shows great leadership in being humble. It’s great seeing someone so close playing in college and having a great experience.
What is your favorite food?
Ennist: I do love seafood and lobster. I love tacos and Mexican food, but seafood, especially lobster, is my favorite.
What is your favorite tournament of the season?
Ennist: I’ve been to the Capital Hill Classic two years in a row and it’s one of my favorites. The level of play is crazy and I love the length of the tournament that it’s three days. It’s probably one of the bigger tournaments we’ve been to. I’m also super excited for AAUs because I’ve never been.
What is your favorite team bonding event?
Ennist: Over my (high) school season we have a couple away tournaments that are four or five hours away and we stay in hotels. The night before the first day of the tournament the coach picks out mini groups to create a song and dance. We have 20 minutes to come up with one and then we perform it in front of everyone. It’s so fun to connect like that outside volleyball.
Do you have a quote or mantra?
Ennist: This is hard because I’ve been doing #MyQuoteMondays for a couple of months. I started doing that and one that stood out is, I don’t remember exactly, but it talks about the only person holding you back is yourself. Sometimes you get called names and people talk about you as competitors. That’s what happens, but that quote always sticks out and I remember to block out the negative and focus on myself and my team and achieving what we want. It makes it super important to me.
If you could have any super power what would it be and why?
Ennist: Probably being able to time travel. I don’t know why, that just seems so cool going back in time. I don’t think I would want to go forward, just backward.
What do you like to do outside of volleyball?
Ennist: Besides modeling, I love hanging out with friends outside of volleyball when I get the chance. I workout with my best friend on off days and go to a trainer, so working out and modeling are what I do outside of volleyball.
What is one thing that may surprise people about you?
Ennist: I’m not as serious as a lot of people who make the assumption about me think I am. They think I’m completely serious and intimidating. I’m nothing like that. I’m very funny and love to joke around with people and be goofy. When I don’t have games, I’m always goofing around.
What is your favorite number and why?
Ennist: My favorite number is six and I honestly can’t tell you why. That number has stuck with me since I was young. Six is in my birthday and it’s been a lucky number, so maybe that’s why but it’s not a volleyball number of mine. I wear 2 for club and 4 for school and that adds up to 6 but I don’t wear it.
