Aldape a Freshman Force for Fayetteville
The Fayetteville volleyball team has jumped out to an impressive 17-10 record, and the Lady Lions are currently ranked No. 13 in the state in Class 1A.
A big part of that success has been the play of freshman Lilly Aldape, who is second on the team in kills and third in digs.
“We always knew Lilly was a pretty good player going back to junior high but she’s stepped up bigger than I had plans for her,” said Fayetteville head volleyball coach Marcus Sodek. “She plays all the way around. She does well on the back row, well on the front row. She’s a very smart hitter. She plays beyond her years as a freshman.”
Because of the breakout play of the Lady Lions’ freshman, we’re proud to honor Lilly Aldape as this week’s Fayette County Athlete of the Week.
We caught up with Lilly Tuesday afternoon (right before she and the Lady Lions swept Aggieland Home School).
Here are some highlights from our interview: Lilly said she has exceeded her own expectations.
“I was just really honored and excited to play on this varsity team with a bunch of older girls,” she said.
Lilly’s love of volleyball started early. She said she started playing Optimist Club volleyball at the age of eight and then club ball at 10.
“I always watched my sister play. It seemed fun to me,” See Lilly said.
Lilly’s sister is Ava Aldape, who herself was a freshman on the 2019 state championship Fayetteville volleyball team.
“It was really exciting to get to watch her (at state) and see her achieve that,” Lilly said.
Like that 2019 bunch, this year’s Fayetteville team also has high hopes.
Surrounding Aldape is a very experienced group of other Lady Lions – and it’s shown so far this season.
“We’ve had a good run,” Sodek said. “There’s little things we need to fix. We have potential to do some big things. We have two heavy hitters in the district, us and Round Top. It should be a fun district year, fun playoff season, hopefully. We’re looking forward to it.”
And Aldape is ready to experience it all.
“I think we can go really far if we work together as a team,” Lilly said. “We have a lot of talent.”