St. Laurence’s Kayla Birmingham is capable of pounding down some jaw-dropping kills. And the senior outside hitter is almost as accurate attacking from the back row as she is near the net.
But the Green Bay recruit confirmed her game now is about more than power.
“It’s not always about hitting,” Birmingham said. “You have to be a well-rounded player. You can’t be an amazing player if you are just good at hitting. You have to lock in on all of those other skills.
“That’s been a part of my improvement — being a six-rotation all-around player.”
Those skills were on full display Saturday as the MVP of the Oak Lawn Spartan Classic.
The 5-foot-11 Birmingham finished with 13 kills, five digs and three aces as St. Laurence rolled to a 25-23, 25-14 victory over Lincoln-Way West in the tournament championship match.
Aubrey Martinez added eight kills and six digs while Vianne Villa had 27 assists and 10 digs for St. Laurence (16-4), which won the first regular-season tournament in program history.
Maeve McNamara also had four kills for the Vikings. Elly Decker paced Lincoln-Way West (12-8) with seven kills. Providence (13-3) beat host Oak Lawn (16-2) by a 25-21, 25-16 score for third.
Shepard’s Madison Scapardine, Lincoln-Way West’s Caroline Smith, Providence’s Abbey Knight, Oak Lawn’s Hailey Wierzgac, Evergreen Park’s Neve Hayes, Lincoln-Way Central’s Penny Smith and Rich Township’s Kameylla Bridgewater were area players making the all-tournament team.
Birmingham, meanwhile, grew up in a volleyball family, with one sister, Sara, playing at Mother McAuley and another, Lauren, taking the court at Richards.
Kayla started getting serious about the sport after her freshman year at St. Laurence, playing club for First Alliance. Once she finally got serious, she focused on molding that all-around game.
“The one thing about Kayla is ever since she got here, she just kept getting better,” St. Laurence coach Ellen Yopchick said. “She not satisfied. She’s one of the most coachable kids I’ve had.
“She continues to elevate her game. She’s also a great teammate and wants the best for everybody.”
McNamara, a senior right-side hitter, echoed those sentiments.
“She is phenomenal and I love her so much,” McNamara said of Birmingham. “She’s someone I can always count on no matter what.
“As the opposite hitter, I’m always there to support her, but I’ve learned so much from her because I always hit with her and we’re always together.”
The part of her game that Birmingham worked on the most in the offseason was her defense.
“My defense has improved a big amount,” she said. “I’ve been reading the ball a lot better this year and getting a lot of digs. There have been some pretty big hitters who I have seen and I’ve gotten digs off of them.”
In August, Birmingham gave her verbal commitment to Green Bay. Before that, though, recruiting didn’t come easy.
“Green Bay was a big step up for me because it was getting late in my recruiting process,” Birmingham said, noting that Green Bay coach Abbey Sutherland “saw me and said she couldn’t believe I wasn’t committed yet.
“That was the best compliment I could get because I was lacking some confidence in myself when I saw other girls who were committed and I was not.”
Green Bay has dipped into the Southland talent pool, with Marist graduates Ellie and Jessica Kurpeikis on the roster. Brother Rice alum Jim Dwyer is an assistant coach coming off a season in which he was the head coach as Georgetown, Kentucky, won the NAIA national title.
“She had faith in me and believed in me,” Birmingham said of Sutherland. “She made me an offer and I took it.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
