When the Sekunda family gets together for some fun and games — like ping pong or air hockey in the basement — things can get a little heated.
Even if it’s a board game, the competitive juices are flowing — much like the trash talk.
“Monopoly gets heated in our house,” Kacy Sekunda said with a laugh.
That competitiveness carries over to the volleyball court, where the junior setter/opposite drives State College into the District 6 tournament. She leads the Lady Little Lions in several major stat categories, including kills, assists and service aces. State College (17-0) swept Williamsport, 3-0, on Wednesday in the Class 4A semifinals, and will face Altoona on Saturday in the final.
The Lady Little Lions entered the postseason ranked third in Class 4A in the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches’ Association’s weekly poll.
Sekunda has helped get them to the high ranking with the assistance of some good genetics. That highly-competitive family includes two older brothers and a father who played collegiate basketball. Bryan played at Stony Brook and is now working at the school, Tommy is a guard-forward at Seton Hill, and their dad, Glenn, was a Penn State Nittany Lion. Their mom played volleyball in high school, and their aunt played that sport in college.
Kacy gave a brief attempt at basketball — very, very brief. She attempted one free throw in one seventh-grade game, but giving up on the sport did not draw any disappointment from her hoops-minded relatives.
“My family is happy with any sport I wanted,” she said. “They’re happy if I’m happy … I just wanted to be a little different than my family and volleyball has always been a sport I’ve been playing.”
Having a background in high-level athletics provides other bonuses too.
“It’s helped me take control over what’s going to be bothering me over a certain game,” she said, “and understand you’re not always going to play well, but the way you react to that is what the outcome will be.”
Having that mental toughness can be extra important for someone who plays multiple positions in every match, including the setter — the quarterback on the volleyball court.
“She wants the ball in tough situations,” Lady Little Lions coach Chad Weight said. “Above and beyond the skill stuff, it’s the intangibles — that’s what makes her stick out to me.”
Having the self-confidence and athletic ability also puts her teammates at ease.
“I have full confidence in Kacy’s ability to get the ball anywhere,” senior outside hitter Kate Lachendro said. “She can be on the other side of the court and I know that she can push that ball to me, at the right tempo, exactly where I need it to be.”
Sekunda’s importance is everywhere for the Lady Little Lions. She’s rocked in 240 kills, given out 364 assists and delivered 90 aces — all leading the team. Her kill total has come on a .381 hitting percentage, and she’s also tallied 139 digs and 29 blocks.
She has racked up those stats in State College’s 6-2 offense — a two-setter system.
During her three rotations in the front row, Sekunda is a right-side hitter while Sarah Neely sets, and she’s the setter during her three backrow rotations.
Weight has heard suggestions from several other coaches to make Sekunda strictly a hitter, but both he and Sekunda have resisted.
“That’s not in our best interest,” Weight said. “She feels she can be more of a contributor out of the back row as a setter.”
“If you’re struggling in one (position) it gives you the opportunity to pick it up in the other,” she said. “I like being able to go front row and back row and making a difference in both positions.”
The package of skill, versatility and family background wrapped into her 5-foot-11 frame has already drawn interest from college programs, including Division I schools, with opportunities for either a hitting or setting role.
While she has put together plenty of outstanding performances through her high school career, perhaps the best came on Oct. 2 during a 3-1 win at Cumberland Valley, a Mid Penn Conference rival and ranked fourth in the PVCA poll.
Sekunda had 17 kills, 15 assists, 11 digs, nine aces and a pair of blocks. She finished one ace shy of a quadruple-double — an extreme rarity in the sport.
“She’s usually really good for us,” Weight said. “She had a little bit above and beyond the norm.”
It wasn’t a bad way to celebrate her birthday, either.
“It felt awesome to be able to step up for my team, against a good team across the net,” she said. “I’m pretty confident in myself, and having those (type of) games lets me know that I’m doing the right things in practices and I’m putting in the work.”
In addition to her State College exploits, she also plays with the Revolution club program in Pittsburgh, a team that includes some teammates from defending state champion and PVCA Class 4A No. 1 North Allegheny.
Joining her on those long drives to club practices and matches is Lachendro, who also has been on hand for some of those family game battles.
“She’s a very competitive person in anything she does,” Lachendro said, noting that it also has impacted the personality of the Lady Little Lions and they have made each other better.
“We’re always in each other’s faces,” Lachendro said. “We know how to work with each other and always are pushing each other.”
No matter how heated or loud some of those family battles may be, however, Sekunda said it doesn’t carry over to the next day.
“We’re pretty good about keeping it on the court,” she said.
She also has appreciated all the hard work that has been necessary to get her and the team to where they are heading into the postseason, and can see the possibilities for State College.
“This team has a lot of opportunities to do good things,” Sekunda said. “How hard we work is going to determine the outcome.”
