Gracelyn Skaggs, Westmoore senior libero, is among the best returning volleyball players in the Oklahoma City metro.

Westmoore head volleyball coach Taylor Fleener called it an “absolute honor” to coach Skaggs.

“Gracelyn is an all-around team player and outstanding young woman,” Fleener said. “She will outwork anyone and takes pride in her position as a leader both on and off the floor. There aren’t many balls that Gracelyn won’t touch, and she makes sure she never misses the same ball twice.”

Skaggs, who first started playing volleyball at 12 years old, is also an exceptional student with a particular aptitude for art, in which she takes an honors class. She sees the similarities between both skills.

“I think art and volleyball are similar because they spotlight what each individual is good at,” Skaggs said. “Whether it’s painting in art or passing in volleyball. They are both very subject to the specific talents a person has.”

The past two seasons, Skaggs was named most valuable player and defensive player of the year for her team.

“Some other things I’ve learned from playing are being more mentally tough, becoming a leader and how to handle adversity,” Skaggs said. “To me, it means you have your teammates’ backs no matter what, and you’re always there to pick them up when they’re down.”

Skaggs and her teammates have been working to establish a new culture at Westmoore volleyball.

“We’ve improved so much already and can only get better from here,” Skaggs said. “I think having someone like coach Taylor, who puts in so much effort in order to better our team, is the kind of thing that makes it easy to want to represent Westmoore volleyball.”

Not only is she talented, Skaggs has come a long way as a leader, something that Fleener has pushed her towards in the past year. No team, Skaggs said, can be successful without a leader– “it’s just as important as having the skill to play.”

“Volleyball is an extremely mental game. It’s point-for-point. It’s built on mistakes,” Skaggs said.

“The team who makes the least amount of mistakes is the team that’s gonna win. You have to be able to forget about whatever mistakes you made and move on to the next ball.”