NEW BRAUNFELS — One of the San Antonio area’s top high school volleyball players didn’t spend the final weekend before the start of the UIL playoffs in a manner most likely would be expected.

New Braunfels Canyon senior outside hitter Marlee Lightsey wasn’t in a gym fine-tuning her game in hopes of leading her team on a deep postseason run.

Lightsey, a Division I prospect, instead was at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio. She was at SpaceCon, an event that celebrates comic creators, artists and illustrators. She was geeking out over meeting actor Grant Gustin, who portrayed the Flash in a television series that Lightsey first began watching in first or second grade.

“I love a lot of nerdy things,” said Lightsey, who is committed to Army. “The characters, I relate to a lot.”

The relationship has been literal and figurative. If Lightsey wasn’t wearing a Flash T-shirt and knee-high socks with capes adorned in elementary school, collecting Funko pops and reading dystopian books such as “The Hunger Games,” she was drawing Wonder Woman in her parking space in the school’s student lot.

“It gives me something, even though I’m so focused on volleyball, that helps me reset,” Lightsey said. “A lot of my teammates know me as ‘the nerd.’ “

Lightsey will also go down as one of the best attackers the Cougarettes have produced, joining a list under Coach Heather Sanders that started with Courtney Beach in 1999 and has continued with Lindsey Van Horn, Brandie DeBacker, Madison Williams, Rafae Strobos, KK Payne, Kylie Trefflich, Brooke Kanas and Kyla Malone.

New Braunfels Canyon (31-13) faces Medina Valley (21-19) in a Class 6A Division II bidistrict match at 7 p.m. Thursday at Alamo Heights High School.

We’ve had some key players along the way that have been record-setting,” Sanders said. “Being able to get the big kill when you need it, wanting the ball when the game is on the line, I think, would be the common thread between those kids. I think this year (Marlee) kind of came out of her shell. Her innate ability to stay calm in the big moments and be consistent, that, to me, made her one of the leaders.

“Marlee dances to the beat of her own drum. She’s into Marvel, reads a lot of books; she’s so honest and upfront. What you see is what you get. She is unapologetically who she is. She’s just Marlee.”

Roughly five or six years ago, being Marlee probably didn’t include a future playing volleyball. She played softball and basketball and got started in volleyball thanks to her mother, Molly, a former coach.

Volleyball, though, wasn’t Marlee’s cup of tea in the formative years. She found the sport lacking.

“I hated volleyball; I did not want to play,” she said. “At the time, it was just boring. It was very fundamental. It was serve it over the net and pass. There wasn’t much. You don’t really get to start playing the sport until everybody starts getting older, getting better, more coordinated.”

Slowly but surely, volleyball won her over. With her fondness for the sport and the cost of playing club both high, Marlee sat down with her parents one day as an eighth-grader and committed to fully playing volleyball. No more basketball or softball, which was her favorite sport.

“With (playing) club, you want to make a decision sooner rather than later, because it’s really expensive,” she said. “That’s when I saw volleyball as something I wanted to do.”

Lightsey attended Oak Run Middle School in New Braunfels ISD as a sixth- and seventh-grader before transferring to Churchill Middle School in Canyon’s attendance zone as an eighth-grader. She began going to Canyon matches that year and was inspired by Malone, who would lead the Cougarettes to the state semifinals in 2021 and the regional final in 2020.

“A part of me still remembers all the things that happened freshman year,” Lightsey said. “All those things helped me become the player I am today. My mom and I would come to the games and watch Kyla Malone, and it was amazing. Little did I know that I would have to step up and be that person one day. All I want to do is be like that to younger players that will eventually come to Canyon one day.”

With 561 kills — including a school-record 36 in a five-set victory vs. Buda Johnson on Sept. 12 — a .291 hitting percentage and 382 digs, Lightsey has carried the unspoken baton in the Cougarettes’ lineage of outstanding hitters.

“Obviously, you’re going to play your hardest every match but something about those bigger rival games, you’re game-on and your confidence has to be there that you know you’re going to put the ball way during those certain times,” said KK Payne, who was the top attacker on Canyon’s 2015 state-semifinalist squad, played at Division I Stephen F. Austin and Division II St. Mary’s and is now a chiropractor in the Austin area. “You know you’re getting the ball, they know you’re getting the ball.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1

Sorority of Swat
New Braunfels Canyon has a storied history of producing standout attackers.
Here is a rundown of some of the top ones during the quarter-century that Coach Heather Sanders has been at the helm.

Courtney Beach
Led the Cougarettes to the UIL state semifinals in 1999 and regional finals in 1997 and 1998. Was All-State and played at TCU.

Lindsey Van Horn
Paced Canyon to the state final in 2001 before falling to Hereford. Played collegiately at Angelo State and St. Mary’s.

Brandie DeBacker
A two-time All-State performer, she helped the Cougarettes advance to the state semifinals in 2007. She was also a standout soccer player who played collegiately at Angelo State.

Madison Williams
Earned All-State honors and racked up 743 kills, 595 digs and 71 aces and helped Canyon advance to the regional quarterfinals in 2014. Played at Incarnate Word.

Rafae Strobos
All-State and district MVP, she amassed 665 kills, 382 digs, 56 aces and 45 blocks in 2011. She played collegiately at Big Ten’s Northwestern.

KK Payne
Graduated after recording a school-record 1,417 kills, 106 aces and 81 blocks and was Under Armour All-American. Guided the Cougarettes to the
state tournament in 2015. Played at Stephen F. Austin and St. Mary’s.

Kylie Trefflich
All-State performer who had 545 kills, 325 digs and 58 blocks in 2018. Finished career with 1,000 kills. Played at Texas Tech and Tulsa.

Kyla Malone
Notched 580 kills and 441 digs and was selected All-American and All-State after Canyon advanced to state semifinals in 2021. She also helped the team reach regional final in 2020.