We’re proud to be a part of an ongoing partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods, which is sponsoring our Player of the Week award. We’ll be releasing a featured vballrecruiter.com Player of the Week, sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, on Tuesdays. Below is this week’s Player of the Week: Kayla Nwabueze.
***
Our latest Player of the Week is coming off a breakout 15s club campaign in which she established herself as one of the top players in the country. Kayla Nwabueze – a 5-star middle blocker from the Class of 2026 – helped Legacy 15-1 Adidas to a fifth-place finish in 15 Open at the USAV Girls Junior National Championships this summer in Chicago, as well as finishing No. 4 overall in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 National Rankings.
With the club season being done for well over a month, Nwabueze has been gearing up for another high school season at Bloomfield Hills. She starred last season as a freshman in her role as a six-rotation middle. She finished the year leading the team in both kills (412) and blocks (155) as Bloomfield Hills lost in the district playoffs to eventual state champion Marian.
It’s been a quick rise for the sophomore, as Nwabueze first started off her 12s season playing for Legacy. Her older sister, Ashlea, started playing volleyball in seventh grade and loved it so it wasn’t long after Nwabueze had her try.
“My first time playing was at a club practice,” Nwabueze said. “I was really nervous at first. Everyone was really welcoming and knew each other and that made it more fun. I didn’t get how to play in rotations or anything like that. After about two weeks I started to get the hang of things. My 14s year I knew I wanted to do it as my main sport because I really loved it.”
Nwabueze was part of a Legacy 14-1 Adidas team that earned a bronze medal in 14 Open at the 2022 AAU National Championships. Nwabueze and company repeated the feat this past season, leaving Orlando with another bronze before finishing tied for fifth at the USAV GJNC two weeks later. The gold-bracket losses were similar, with Legacy having a chance in both contests.
At AAUs, Legacy fell in three sets to eventual champion Mintonette Sports m.51, 16-25, 36-34, 15-12, before facing the same fate against Hou Skyline 15 Royal in the quarterfinals in Chicago with another three-set loss, 18-25, 25-18, 15-12.
“This 15s season was incredible,” Nwabueze said. “We have four amazing coaches. They are hard on us but discipline us to take accountability and make us better players. The team was so natural we had a flow like we had been together since babies. It made it really nice. I don’t remember a time when we got mad with each other or we weren’t all laughing. I’m looking forward to next club season being another great one.”
As our featured Player of the Week sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, we recently spoke with Nwabueze about volleyball and more.
Who is your role model or someone you look up to?
Nwabueze: I have more than one. I really look up to outside of volleyball and some with volleyball is my older sister. When she was first playing I was watching her games and thinking I want to be that good. But outside of volleyball I really look up to her because overall she is a really great person. Also, academic wise, she graduated valedictorian. Personality wise, she gives off a really good vibe. She doesn’t get mad at you. She has good vibe about her and it makes her a good person. Another role model is my mom. She is very successful in my opinion. She likes to hold people accountable and she’ll tell you when you are not doing your best. She knows you can do better and she holds you to a standard. If she wasn’t here I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing without her. Someone in volleyball I look up to is Asjia O’Neal. She plays on Texas. She’s a great middle blocker. I was watching a couple of videos on her mastering the slide. She’s known for her notorious slides. On the court she’s in the zone, focused and ready to go. She’s one of my role models.
What is your favorite food?
Nwabueze: I love french fries. I could eat french fries without any sides. Or I love wings from Wingstop.
Aside from necessities, what is one thing you could not go a day without?
Nwabueze: It’s pretty bad to say but I can’t go a day without my phone. It has all my contacts. When I get bored on I’m on my phone. It would have to be my phone.
Other than volleyball, what skill would you most like to learn and why?
Nwabueze: I think what I would want to learn is to how to learn to play football. It’s a really big sport and I don’t really know what’s going on during the Super Bowl.
What is one thing that instantly makes your day better or makes you smile?
Nwabueze: My sisters, both of them. They really lighten my mood. They make me laugh a lot. They are my main source of whenever I’m laughing.
If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?
Nwabueze: It would definitely be reading people’s minds. I think because especially asking questions or when someone is telling me stuff and I’m trying to find out the truth I could read their minds so I know what they are keeping from me.
Outside of volleyball what are you most passionate about and why?
Nwabueze: I’m most passionate about my schoolwork and things that are academic based. I feel if I am good about academics and volleyball then I can be a really successful person in life.
What is one thing that may surprise people about you?
Nwabueze: That I play instruments. I don’t give off the vibe that I play the piano or violin. They are little stress relievers when things are getting too hard. I’ve been playing the violin since fourth grade and I started playing the piano two years ago.
What is your strangest irrational fear?
Nwabueze: It’s definitely being in a body of water and expecting animals to be in there. I’m also terrified of dogs. One actually bit me before. Everyone makes fun of me saying dogs don’t bite but they end up biting me.
What’s your favorite number and why?
Nwabueze: It’s No. 9. It’s also my jersey number. At first it was because I had to choose a number during my 12s and my birthday is March 9, so why not. Now, it’s because my older sister was 19 and I didn’t want to copy her so I took the 1 off and left the 9. I do it because of her.
Is there anything else you would like to say?
Nwabueze: I want to say I’m really grateful for being able to play the sport of volleyball. It’s really expensive and comes with a lot. In my heart I’m grateful for the people who push me and help lead me and my parents especially for making sure I have the coaches and proper tools I can use. I’m really grateful for the whole thing.
