Paige Staton '21 Recruiting Profile

My name is Paige Staton. I would first like to thank you for taking the time to stop by and read my profile. I am an Outside and Right side hitter and play all the way around. I am 16 years old and a Junior at Lutheran High School Westland. I play on Legacy Volleyball Club’s 17 Elite West Team, as a starter. I also play on the varsity at Lutheran High School Westland as a starter and captain. I am currently 5’8” and still growing. At my last tryout this summer my approach Jump was 9’-6.5”, block was 9’2”, and my reach is 7’5.5”. I have long arms. Over the past year I have watched my jumps increase as I gain more experience, and I have not yet reached my full potential for my height or my jumps.

I have been playing volleyball since 5^th grade in school, which was my first time to ever play, and from that day I have had a passion for the sport. My high school varsity coach has asked me to become the leader of the team, and to be a role model for the other players. When the club season ends in June that is not the end of my training, it is the start of my summer training to become a stronger and better player. I take private and semi-private lessons, skills, attacking and defense classes with Master trainers at Team Detroit and Legacy. I also play soccer and have been playing that for 10 years.

Academics is very important to me, I was the valedictorian of my 8^th graded class with a GPA of 4.0. They can say 8^th grade grades do not matter, but they are wrong. They are the building blocks for your high school and college years. It is about creating good study habits, and learning what works and does not work everyone is different. I was told 2 months before the end of the year that I was going to be the valedictorian. I had a teacher ask me why I was working so hard still. He said you can just “coast the rest of the year you already have it in the bag”. I told him that was not me, and I was going to give it 110% no matter what, that is what I am and do. When I commit to something it is for the long run and at 110%.

As a Junior my current GPA is 4.143, I am currently taking 2 AP classes, AP Chemistry and AP Language.

I have been involved with Girls Scouts since first grade. I have progressed through the ranks and for the past 3 years I have been a PAL at Girls Scout camp each summer, leading and becoming a role model for the younger girls. I have also won Girls Scouts bronze award for helping out other Girl Scout leaders and I have also won a Girls Scouts silver award for raising money and actual do the work of remolding the girls and bathrooms at our school. I also am a volunteer at my church’s VBS. For the past 3 years I have been a leader for the younger children’s programs.

I envision my college years to be a time of growth for me personally in the class room and on the court. You are never done growing in life no matter how old you become. There are always things to improve upon and become better at, even if it only something small. They all add up in the end. I still have not decided yet what field I would like to major in, but have at least narrowed it down to a few: Teaching, Veterinarian, or something in the Biology field. I love to be challenged.

Here is my take on Volleyball; it is a team sport and it takes a fully functioning team to win games and tournaments. If just one mechanism is out of alignment it can wreak everything. It’s about team relationships; also everyone needs to be like a family. Yes, family can fight sometimes, but in the end they have your back. I love being part of that family and will back by family 110%, because without them it is just I, and with just I you cannot win and be successful, not only on the field but in life also. Last year my club team took first place in the 13 Club at Volleyfest in Grand Rapids, Michigan. At the end of the year at States, we won every game the first day and then our team had a family disagreement. We were all not in the same hotel, some girls wanted to go to one place and others somewhere else. One thing lead to another and it totally affect the next day of game play. One side was not talking to the other and through lack of communication we took 5^th place instead of the 1^st place which could have been ours, if we only would have talked. But on the positive sided, it was a learning experience for me. It showed me no matter what happens off the court, it has to be left off the court. When we are on the court we are family and have to have each other’s back, and support one another no matter what has transpired before the game.