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AOTW: Wheeler's big week leads Spartans to five wins - Oconee Enterprise
Athens Academy junior Peyton Wheeler didn’t know what volleyball was before the seventh grade. She was talked into trying out by her English teacher.
Only five years later and Wheeler has fallen in love with the sport. It acts as her place of zen.
“It was an opportunity to work on myself and work on what I’m good at,” Wheeler said. “I just kept working hard at it.”
She’s gotten pretty good in a very short period of time.
The Spartans had a loaded weekend in which they played five matches between Thursday and Saturday.
Wheeler was one of the Spartans’ standouts over the five-match stretch.
Wheeler led the team with 26 kills in the Spartans’ five wins. Wheeler added 11 aces and 41 digs. Her performance has made Wheeler this week’s Oconee Physical Therapy & Sports Rehabilitation/Oconee Enterprise Athlete of the Week.
Since she began playing in the seventh grade, Wheeler has wanted to play volleyball collegiately. The journey began toward that goal in only her second season playing when her father suggested she play club volleyball and began filming her matches.
Wheeler subliminally pushed that message as she donned a Wofford College shirt at practice on Monday.
“Its my main goal,” Wheeler said. “I’ve wanted to go to college for volleyball for since I started. I want to get a scholarship.”
The seventh-grade version of Wheeler was only learning how the sport worked. The club volleyball scene changed Wheeler’s mentality about the sport. It pushed her more deeply in love with the newfound sport.
“Once I started seeing the competition and the whole club experience and how much work it was, I actually kind of enjoyed it,” Wheeler said. “It made me realize that I wanted to push this further than middle school or high school. I wanted to play it in college. I just really love it.”
This summer provided Wheeler with another set of lessons. COVID-19 cancelled the club volleyball season. Wheeler was set to join her A5 Gwinnett team in nationals. It was an opportunity to get seen by a lot of college coaches in the summer before her junior season.
Wheeler didn’t stop working out. She had to get creative in how she prepared. The summer featured days of Wheeler hitting the ball against her parent’s house.
“I kind of figured out other ways for me to work on stuff while I’m at home,” Wheeler said. “I started doing workouts at home and it taught me to build my fundamentals. Once I came back to the team, I realized how much I missed it and being in that atmosphere instead of being by myself and doing it.”
Oconee Physical Therapy & Sports Rehabilitation/Oconee Enterprise Athlete of the Week is chosen by the sports staff of The Oconee Enterprise. You are welcome to email nominations to sportseditor@oconeeenter-prise.com by Monday at 10 a.m.
Athens Academy
Athens Academy is an independent, co-educational school for students in K3 through 12th grade, located on a beautiful 152-acre campus in Northeast Georgia. For over 50 years, Athens Academy has pursued its mission of Excellence with Honor through academics, athletics, fine arts, and service and leadership.
