Stephens freshman set for three-sport year

COLUMBIA — Energy oozes out of Stephens College volleyball outside hitter Cara Leis.

Her spikes sound like shots out of a cannon, the products of a long-armed swing that looks like a windmill. She’s able to hang in the air for a split-second, providing a moment of calm before the storms that Leis unleashes on her opponents. Her yellow-trimmed gym shoes stand out on the hardwood, a proper fit for a player whose confidence as a freshman sets her apart.

Leis will need that confidence and energy while at Stephens. The Rapid City, S.D. native is going to play volleyball, basketball and softball this year, and hopes to play the three sports for all four years. She will have to balance being a three-sport athlete while working on her degree in interior design. Stephens volleyball coach Michelle Gregory says that Leis has the demeanor needed to handle both the athletic and academic work.

“I think she’s self-motivated,” Gregory said. “I don’t have to motivate her. She wants to be successful, and she wants the team to be successful. She’s not afraid to be a leader on the court.”

At the start of a recent practice, Gregory gave her players an encouraging speech. The team sat on the bleachers, and no one said a word. Silverthorne Arena was silent as she listed the Stars’ advantages over their upcoming opponent, Central Methodist. Central Methodist was in the midst of homecoming festivities, and Gregory spoke about how all the distractions would work in the Stars’ favor.

After the coach made her point, Leis fearlessly added, “And we can beat ‘em.”

Leis also has a desire to prove herself. That’s her motivation for deciding to play all three sports.

“I think the biggest thing was that knowing people didn’t believe that I could do it, and loving every single sport and not wanting to have to quit one,” Leis said.

When asked to describe Leis as a person, right-side hitter Jaimie Link gave an exasperated laugh, as if the right words to describe her teammate weren’t in the dictionary.

“She has a lot of spunk. She’s kind of inspiring, especially when it comes to volleyball,” Link said. “She’ll be on the court, and (the team) will be kind of down, and she’ll get out there and be like, ‘Hello! Let’s go! Pick it up!’ Then she’ll get a kill or a hit, and it’s like, ‘I wish I could hit the ball like that.’”

Ben Lipson will see that spunk in action first-hand. Lipson is an assistant coach at Stephens for both basketball and volleyball, and is also the head softball coach. He says that Leis’ energy should make the same positive impact on the basketball and softball teams, too.

“The more she’s got on her plate, the more she seems to respond to it,” Lipson said. “She’s just a competitor. She’s what the program needs for all the sports.”

If Leis is having any difficulties, it’s with something many freshman experience: homesickness. Leis approaches it just like any other situation. She looks at it as a challenge she can overcome.

“I think the hardest thing about coming here is not knowing anyone,” Leis said. “There’s a lot of factors that come into being far away from home, and a lot of people wondered, ‘Why Missouri?’ and ‘Why so far away?’ But I think that you gain so much strength being far away, and it’s hard not having family members there to cheer you on and to lean on, but it makes you rely on other people.”

Leis’ face brightens up when she talks about Rapid City, a town of about 60,000 people. The tone of her voice softened as she reminisced about her hometown. The determination in her words came back, however, when she spoke about her eventual goal of living in a big city.

“That will always be my home, and it’s a good town, but I’m glad I’m in a bigger city now, and I want to keep moving up to bigger cities,” Leis said.

Leis has high goals for herself away from the volleyball court, too. She wants to move to bigger cities in order to take advantage of her major, and she knows that her many challenges today will prepare her for life after college.

“I want to be able to own my own company and design big commercial buildings,” Leis said. “I think sports has helped me gain people skills, and I think that will help me in the long run. I think definitely my major is the most important thing right now, and to focus on school and grades.”

Lipson says that she’s one of the more “academically-inclined” athletes he’s coached, but Leis also works hard to improve her conditioning for athletics. She sounds like a child who saw her Christmas presents early when she talks about including “Jazzercise” in her morning workouts, and she sometimes jogs before her evening practices. At one point this year, she had volleyball and basketball practices the same night.

Her efforts have paid off. During the Stars’ last home game, Leis looked like a piston firing up and down, jumping tirelessly as a middle blocker. Others might have been worn out by a season’s worth of practices and games and this point, but not Leis. For her, it’s one sport down, two to go.