Avery Allen to play volleyball at Boise State University
By FRED KRONER
An afternoon at the beach means something different for many of us.
For some, it’s a chance to go swimming, snorkeling, or jet-ski riding. For others, it’s the opportunity to relax on an oversized towel, soaking in some sunshine. There are also those who enjoy building sandcastles.
For Mahomet-Seymour senior Avery Allen, none of those options will be her top priority next year.
She will spend much of her time on the sand practicing and playing volleyball.
A four-year volleyball letter winner for the Bulldogs – and an All-State first-teamer as a senior – Allen is the first-ever M-S athlete to receive a college scholarship to pursue beach volleyball.
She signed her letter of intent with Boise State University, a Division I college in Idaho which participates in the Southland Conference.
Allen was introduced to beach volleyball by her sister, Skylar, while the family was living in Texas. Skylar Allen is now a senior with the South Carolina program where she is a two-time AVCA All-American second-teamer.
A 5-foot-7 outside hitter, Avery Allen recognized early in her prep career that the likelihood of fulfilling a dream of playing at a Division I university would be minimal in the traditional indoor volleyball format.
On this year’s University of Illinois indoor volleyball team, for example, the top three outside hitters are listed at 6-foot-4, 6-foot-3, and 6-foot-2.
“Because of my height, I probably would not be able to play as an outside hitter in college, but with beach volleyball, I can be a defender and also still hit, which is something I love to do,” Avery Allen.
She took up beach volleyball as a seventh-grader in Callisburg, Texas, and soon found herself enjoying the pace and the possibilities of the sport, where there are two players, instead of six, on each side of the net.
“I am a defender meaning I’m defending the other team’s offense the whole time while my partner stays at the net to block,” Avery Allen said. “Beach volleyball fits my skills because it allows me to control the outcome way more than court volleyball does.
“On the beach, you touch the ball every play and you have a lot more control over the game than you would having six people on the court. I’ve always been more of an independent person, and I like having control when it comes to sports, so since beach volleyball allows two people on a team, it fits me perfectly.”
M-S High School volleyball coach Stan Bergman got acquainted with Allen when the family relocated to Mahomet in the summer of 2020.
“I knew she had a lot of experience and that her mom (Angela) had coached in Texas,” Bergman said, “and that she grew up in the gym, watching her sister play.”
First impressions didn’t provide the Bulldog coach with an accurate assessment of what to expect.
“Five-foot-seven or 5-8 outside hitters are a dime a dozen,” Bergman said, “but when I saw her play, I thought, ‘Wow. This girl has a lot of potential.’”
Avery Allen’s potential translated favorably into production.
She pounded a career school-record 1,063 kills and also set the all-time M-S record with 171 service aces.
As a senior for a 32-5 team, she totaled 353 kills, 221 digs, 52 aces, 24 blocks and 15 assists.
Her performance landed her a spot on the IVCA 10-player Class 3A All-State first team as a senior as an outside hitter.
She helped the Bulldogs win four consecutive Apollo Conference championships with an overall record of 108-17 during her time on the court. Allen was a two-time All-Apollo first-team selection.
“Her indoor skills are a reflection of what she has learned in beach (volleyball),” Bergman said. “The way she can control and manipulate the ball is unreal.”
Allen’s hitting skills are not the only area where she is outstanding.
“She is the real deal,” Bergman said. “She can pass the ball as well, and can flat-out hammer the ball. She does not play like she’s 5-7 or 5-8.”
Allen’s 744 career digs place her sixth on the all-time M-S career list.
You won’t hear Allen bragging about her accolades.
“She’s pretty reserved,” Bergman said, “a quiet kid.”
Allen has learned to compensate for her size by being creative on the court.
“The things I do to score are different from most people,” Avery Allen said. “I do things that are considered crafty, and I like to trick people.
“It’s the most satisfying thing to me in court and beach volleyball to trick people. This means I show one thing and do another and the people are caught completely off guard.”
Her knowledge of the sport of volleyball came from the time she spent in the gym while her mom was coaching the local high school team.
“Everyday, I would be at her practices and I would play volleyball against the wall the entire time,” Avery Allen said. “That’s what got me a head start above other kids when it came to skill for court volleyball.
“I would say my strength for volleyball is my IQ of the game. I might not be the most book-smart, but I’m most definitely beach volleyball smart. I make smart decisions that might not look cool, but they get the job done very quickly.”
Like many athletes who excel in a particular sport, Allen has honed her skills with an Aurora-based off-season program, Team One Beach Volleyball Club.
“The key to my development definitely was moving to Team One (as a sophomore) and having Taye (Im) as my beach coach,” Avery Allen said. “Taye taught me about an entirely different side of beach volleyball that I didn’t know I could learn.
“He taught me the strategy side and most importantly the mental side to the game. Beach volleyball can be a very mental sport. If you get in your head, it’s pretty much game over for you because the team will recognize this and start targeting you.
“Taye taught me how to be strong mentally and he also taught me how to be a good partner and how to help my teammates when they need it most.
“I wasn’t so good at supporting my partner before I went to him, and learning how, opened up a whole new side to my beach volleyball skill set.”
To be in position to play a sport in college requires more than talent and knowing what to do.
“You have to be determined and you have to be competitive while having high expectations,” Avery Allen said. “The standards you hold yourself to have a lot to do with how you perform. Taye taught me so many things that changed my game in a way it hasn’t changed before.
“I wasn’t the tallest beach volleyball player and certainly not the most athletic, so I knew I had to work extremely hard to get what I wanted.”
While Im had a significant impact on her development as a beach volleyball player, Allen didn’t have to look further than her own home for others who made major contributions.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without my family,” she said. “My sister has been the best role model over the years, and she showed me what true hard work and determination can do.
“My dad (Mark, the pitching coach for the University of Illinois baseball team) has supported me every step of the way and considering the amount of experience he has with athletes, he was able to teach me a certain strength that not many athletes have.
“My mom has sacrificed so much for me to be able to do what I love. She has been at all my tournaments, she has helped me with so many emails and she made a huge impact on my recruiting process.”
Angela Allen, who assisted Bergman with the Bulldogs the past four years, was her daughter’s chauffeur to beach practices in Aurora.
“During the school year on a school night, my mom drives me 2 hours and 15 minutes to and from even though she gets home at 11,” Avery Allen said. “She doesn’t care because she is so supportive of me and wants me to be as successful and happy as I can be with my sport.”
Allen believes she has much room for development once she commits even more time to beach volleyball.
“Over the past few years, I haven’t been able to practice as much as my peers because of the distance from my house to my club,” Avery Allen said. “I believe when I am put into an environment where I practice every day, I think my skill level will improve greatly.
“My goal is to be able to contribute and have an impact on the program as soon as I step in, but that’s everyone’s goal, so I need to make it happen with the work I put in this year.”
At the collegiate level in beach volleyball, schools will enter five two-player teams in each match, giving 10 players the opportunity to participate.
Allen is ready to make the transition.
“I see myself fitting in really well,” she said. “I’ve learned over the past few years how to prioritize and have good time management, so I’m not too worried about the school part of it.
“As for the beach volleyball side of it, I plan on working super hard this year on aspects of my game that need to improve so I can have a chance to play my freshman year.”
Allen is undecided about a major.
She considered 10 universities before narrowing her list of choices to Boise State and the University of Louisiana-Monroe by the fall of her junior year. She wound up making just one visit before committing.
“I went on a visit to Boise, which is what sold me,” Avery Allen said. “I knew immediately that Boise was the college I saw myself being at in the future.
“I loved the coaches and team so much and I also fell in love with the campus and the town of Boise itself. The very first visit I had was also the only visit I went on because I was so sure of it and decided to commit right after.”
Allen gave her verbal commitment near the end of her high school season as a junior, before any other scholarship offers had been extended.
A chunk of the recruiting process required legwork on Allen’s end.
“The recruiting process was a little more stressful than I thought it would be,” she said. “I was always having to send emails and film to coaches.
“The emailing was probably the worst part. A lot goes into it. I had to film at practice and at tournaments, then I would have to rewatch the film and make highlights, and then put it all together on a YouTube video.
“It was very time-consuming, but I knew I had to do it if I wanted to play beach volleyball in college.”
In her younger years, Allen also participated in basketball, softball and track.
Playing a sport in college has been a long-time goal.
“When I was super-young, I wanted to play court volleyball in college and I wanted to be a setter,” she said. “This goal did not change until I was introduced to beach volleyball (five years ago).
“As soon as I started beach volleyball, that was my new goal.”
No matter which form of volleyball she was playing, Avery Allen always found one common theme.
“Something that kept me going through the years of playing volleyball was the passion I had for it,” she said, “and that’s something that still keeps me going today.
“I always have higher expectations of myself and, if anything, my love for the sport grows every day.”
The distance from Mahomet to Boise is approximately 1,700 miles by car. For Allen, that is the lone drawback about her college choice, but she sees it as manageable.
“The one downside about Boise is definitely the distance,” she said. “I’m an independent person, so I can be on my own for a good amount of time, but I’m extremely close with my family, so it will definitely be hard at first not having them with me.
“I can Facetime them every night though, so that will probably get me through.”
