COLDWATER – On Monday, we here at the Daily Reporter released our list of what we believe to be the 10 best volleyball players from Branch County over the past decade.
This top 10 included state champions, all-state honorees, conference most valuable players, college stars and even a few national champions representing the best of the best from Branch County.
After a week-long survey in which we asked you, dear readers, who you think was actually the “best” in volleyball over the last ten years, we have a clear answer.
In a poll with just over 11,000 votes among the ten nominees, Coldwater setter Olivia Foley was named the best volleyball player of the last decade with 55% of the vote.
Foley, who graduated from Coldwater High School in 2020, finished her high school career as one of the best players to ever wear the red and white jersey. She has made the record books in several categories, including topping the Coldwater all-time leaderboard with 1,479 career digs. Foley is also the third-leading player all-time in assists, second-best career service percentage, fourth-best season assists, sixth-best season digs and third-best season service percentage.
After graduating, Foley took her skills to the collegiate level and made an immediate impact on the Juanita College volleyball team. There, Foley made a name for herself, being selected to the All-Landmark Conference First Team three times and also named MVP of the Landmark Conference Championship.
During her senior season, Foley was named to the AVCA All-America First Team and was named the AVCA Co-Player of the Year. Foley was named the MVP of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament (Elite Eight Onward), totaling 120 assists, 35 digs and 5 blocks and earned All-ECAC Second Team honors. Foley was also named a finalist for the Division III Honda Athlete of the Year.
In December 2023, Foley led the Juniata College volleyball team to its second consecutive Division III national championship with 32 assists.
Second place in voting for the best volleyball player of the last decade went to outside attacker Keona Salesman, a Bronson class of 2020 who currently plays at Western Michigan University and was just named to the All-MAC second team.
More: Where are they now? Volleyball Edition
Third place went to Bronson setter/outside attacker Kiana Mayer, who ended her athletic career as Big 10 Conference rowing champion.
Tune in throughout the fall sports season for more “Best Of” stories and polls, starting with the top 10 cross country runners of the last decade coming Monday next week.
Troy Tennyson is the sports editor of The Daily Reporter and is celebrating his tenth year at the helm of the newspaper’s sports department. To mark the occasion, we here at The Daily Reporter are taking a look back at the “best” in each sport over the past 10 years, starting with volleyball and moving on to cross country. You can reach Troy by email at [email protected] or at [email protected]. You can also reach Troy by phone at (517) 278-2318 ext. 20.
