Cadence Gilley didn’t necessarily set out to go to the same school where her brother attends, but when it came down to picking a college volleyball program, Indiana State was hands down her favorite.
The Columbus East junior announced her committment on Wednesday to play for the Sycamores. Her brother Cole is a freshman on the baseball team at ISU>
“I didn’t plan this, but being able to go to school with my brother is really cool for two years, is going to be really exciting, as well,” Cadence said. “I’ll be able to go watch his games, and he’ll be able to watch my games.”
Cadence also had talked to coaches at Xavier, Central Michigan and a couple smaller schools, but was sold on ISU after talking to the Sycamores coaches.
“They told me they weren’t going to rush anything, and they told me to keep my options open, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to play for Indiana State,” she said. “I loved talking to the coaches and getting to know the coaches, and I’m excited to be able to play with these coaches and these girls. I like how they coach the back row players.”
Gilley wants to major in predentistry or something similar and go into the dental field.
“Indiana State has a really good program with that, so that’s good,” she said.
Last fall, Gilley, a 5-foot-5 libero, led the Olympians with 332 digs and 43 aces. She also had 54 assists as a second setter.
Gilley currently is playing for Circle City’s plays 17-1 purple team that is ranked in the top 25 in the nation. Their club nationals were canceled last summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We didn’t get to play a ton,” she said. “We had a lot of restrictions where only a certain amount of people could come into practices.”
Gilley is hoping to be able to go to nationals this summer and is looking forward to a big fall season at East. The Olympians lost only two seniors from this year’s Hoosier Hills Conference champions.
“I’m extremely excited about senior year at East and playing with all these guys,” she said. “I think we’re going to be pretty good next year.”
