Gabby Dean received a Christmas present, but didn’t get to unwrap it.
The Columbus East sophomore was one of 39 players in the nation to be invited by USA Volleyball to attend its week-long Holiday Training Program at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program was held virtually.
“It was kind of disappointing because it would have been a really good experience,” Dean said. “I’m just really honored to be invited to that. It would have been good to practice and to have coaching from the USA volleyball coaches and play with some of the top players in the nation.”
USA Volleyball coaches held the virtual meeting over Zoom on Dec. 8. But since Dean was playing basketball for the Olympians against Martinsville that night, she had to watch a recording of the 90-minute program.
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Dean said the coaches talked about the different things the Olympic players do with USA Volleyball. Players on the Zoom call were able to ask questions such as what they could do to get better and make the USA Volleyball team and also about nutrition and different athletic things they could do to build themselves up.
“The virtual stuff was really good,” Dean said. “I definitely learned a lot. It was very helpful. I definitely wish I could have been on it live because you were able to ask questions, and they took polls on different things. But it was good to hear the other girls’ questions and see what they had to say.”
A 6-foot-4 middle hitter, Dean recorded 171 kills, 24 assists, 70 blocks, 33 digs and 24 aces this fall.
“I definitely had a better connection with our setter, Katy (Jordan) this year,” Dean said. “I got used to playing with all the girls and not being a freshman anymore.”
East went unbeaten in the Hoosier Hills Conference, but fell to Martinsville in five sets in the sectional final.
“The end wasn’t what we expected, but we grew a lot as a team,” Dean said. “We were real young, so that will carry over into next year. I think we should be pretty good next year. We’ve all been playing together for a lot of years now.”
While she grew up playing both volleyball and basketball year-round, those opportunities were limited this spring and summer because of the pandemic. She played in a few basketball tournaments in June, but that season ended because of COVID.
Dean plays club volleyball for Team Indiana. All of its spring and summer tournaments were canceled, but they did practice a little.
Prep Volleyball recently recognized Dean as a Top 150 national recruit. College volleyball coaches can e-mail sophomores, but can not contact them directly until June 15, and scholarship offers likely will come after that. Dean also has drawn interest from college basketball coaches.
“I think I could do either one (in college), but I’m leaning toward volleyball, Dean said.
For the next couple months, though, the focus is basketball, where Dean is in the middle of her second year as a starter. Dean ranks second on the Olympians with 8.8 points and leads the team with 7.8 rebounds a game. Her 47 blocked shots and 4.3 blocks-per-game average lead the entire state.
East is off to a 7-5 start, with four of the losses coming against teams ranked in the top 10 in Class 4A.
“I think it’s going pretty well so far,” Dean said. “We’ve played a lot tougher teams this year than last year. I just think that playing the harder teams is going to help us when we get into sectional and tougher conference opponents. Hopefully, we just continue getting better as young as we are. We have a few injuries right now that we have to overcome. Hopefully, we can win as many games as we can and win sectional and go as far as we can.”
