Devyn Dunn and Knoxville Catholic defeated Briarcrest Christian, 3-0, in the Division II-AA State Volleyball Championship on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021, in Murfreesboro. (Photo by Kindell Buchanan)
BY DAVE LINK
Catholic setter Devyn Dunn feared her junior season of volleyball might be over when she suffered a leg injury against Alcoa on Aug. 26.
She spent more than a week waiting for the diagnosis, agonizing over the results.
Then she got good news. Her leg wasn’t broken, and her knee wasn’t damaged; she had a bone bruise and inflamed bursa.
“I was surprised it wasn’t as bad because for like a whole week or two, I couldn’t bend my leg, or put any pressure on it at all,” Dunn said. “When they were telling me it could be a fracture or a torn meniscus, I was freaking out. I was like ‘That means the season’s over, I can’t play the rest of the season.’ I was thinking the worst thing possible.”
Her return to action in mid-September was huge for the Lady Irish.
Catholic (34-10) won 11 of its last 12 matches with Dunn back at full speed and won the Division II-AA state championship.
The Lady Irish won nine straight matches once Dunn returned before losing to Briarcrest 3-2 in the state semifinals. Then they beat Father Ryan 3-1 in the losers-bracket final before beating Briarcrest 3-0 for the state title.
Dunn, the 5Star Preps Player of the Year, was chosen MVP of the state tournament.
Catholic coach Brent Carter said Dunn’s drive to win is almost unmatched.
“Devyn is just the definition of competitive,” Carter said. “She does not like to lose, competes every single point, and makes people around her better because she competes so hard. She doesn’t do it with her mouth or her mannerisms. She does it because she’s the hardest worker on the floor.”
Dunn said her will to win comes naturally.
“I’ve always kind of been that way,” she said. “I’ve always had the mindset that no one is going to push me as much as I can, so if I just keep pushing myself, I can get to where I want to be, which eventually would be to play in college. I want to win all the time. I hate losing. I’m such a competitive person, and if we lose, it just drives me even more.”
NOT JUST A SETTER
Carter said Dunn does far more than just run the Lady Irish offense as their setter. She’s also an outstanding server and defender.
“She defends exceptionally well,” Carter said. “Those are words you don’t normally say about a setter. She defends the court really well and she’s exceptional at recognizing where the ball needs to go based on the defense on the other side of the net.”
Carter said Dunn can hit any spot on the court with her jump serve.
“She’s the best server we have in our program and she’s one of the best servers I’ve ever coached,” Carter said.
Her volleyball prowess comes from years of hard work.
She started playing volleyball in the second grade and began travel volleyball at K2 Volleyball in the fifth grade.
“I played basketball for a couple years when I was in elementary school,” she said, “but once I got into middle school I started focusing on volleyball.”
“IT WAS INCREDIBLE”
Dunn wants to play the highest level of college volleyball possible and is already getting plenty of interest.
“I’ve heard a lot of people say, ‘This college is interested you,’ but I haven’t really talked to (college coaches) about it yet,” Dunn said.
When she’s not practicing or playing for K2 Volleyball, Dunn works out on her own.
“That has helped me a lot, just increasing my vertical (leap) and being stronger,” she said.
Her junior season at Catholic will be memorable, to say the least, from the injury and wondering if she was finished to winning the state championship.
“It was incredible,” Dunn said of the run at state. “Ever since the start of the season, we knew what we wanted to do. Every single one of us wanted to win state. We all pushed each other to be better, for each other, so we could end up where we wanted, and that was to win state. That’s what we did.”