T-R PHOTO BY STEPHEN KOENIGSFELD • The Willis family — daughter Kylie, left, mother Lori, middle, and father Jesse, right — hug during the celebration of the Spartans’ four-set win against No. 5 Tri-Center in the Class 2A Region 4 final Nov. 1 in West Des Moines. Lori is also the head coach at Grundy Center and has been coaching Kylie since she was little.

GRUNDY CENTER — During the weekend, Lori Willis took some time to be a mom. She traced the inside of her arm and said, “I should have the buffest forearm.” She looked up with a grin, while pressing an invisible can. “Spray paint.”

Willis, normally the head coach of the Grundy Center volleyball team, spent the weekend being mom of sophomore outside hitter Kylie Willis, helping spray paint decorations for the team’s pre-state tournament celebration. The Spartans (25-16) will play No. 1 Western Christian (38-6) on Wednesday in the first round of the Class 2A state tournament in Cedar Rapids.

But before Lori leads the Spartans out on the court at the U.S. Cellular Center for the first time since 2014, she gets to be mom from time to time, even in the weeks and days leading up to the season’s biggest stage.

“It’s really special. I was looking at pictures, only a handful of daughters make it to state, but it’s even rarer that a mother/daughter get to go to state together,” Lori said. “That’s really extra special and a blessing to experience the emotions with her; to share those things with her and to be courtside and hear her when she’s talking to other teammates.”

Kylie, who made her varsity debut as a freshman last year, has welcomed mom as both a supporter and a coach.

“It has its perks, but there’s always those ups and downs,” Kylie said. “I love being able to share my passion with my mom. We have our daughter/mom moments or whatever you want to call them. It’s really fun and I enjoy it.”

Kylie was just another body on the court her freshman year, just wanting to play a role, not make mistakes and fit in on a squad that already had its hitting power taken care of in seniors Katie Lindeman and Hana Edgerton. But with the exit of four of the top five leading hitters on the team at the end of the 2015 season, Kylie had a chance to prove that she was no longer just a role player, but a leader for years to come.

For the first time since at least 1998, Kylie was named the NICL West Division’s Outstanding Player for the 2016 season, as a sophomore. The honor has always gone to a junior or senior, dating back to the ’98 season, and possibly further.

But it hasn’t been an easy road travelled for Kylie, her mother said. A once somewhat clumsy player who let her brain get ahead of her feet, Kylie never ceased to continue working at the basics to become one of the league’s leaders.

“I’ve been coaching her since she was a wee little thing,” Lori said. “And she has been so uncoordinated. She was that one that was No. 5 or No. 6 on a team. She was just playing a role. She knew the game really well, but she got ahead of herself. Her brain was there, but her body wasn’t. Her eighth-grade year, she got on an AAU team and started blossoming from there.”

In 2016, Kylie led the NICL West in kills with 348 strikes. Her mark was also good enough for 19th in Class 2A, and only the second-ranked underclassman behind Wilton’s sophomore Aubrey Putman (fourth in 2A, 441 kills).

If the physical trials weren’t enough of a reason for Kylie to take a back seat to some of the other up-and-coming Grundy Center hitters, then surly being ‘coach’s kid’ would hinder her spirit, right?

“When we went into her freshman season and her and Brooke [Flater] were battling for the middle spot, I had no idea that it was going to be Kylie,” Lori said. “And being the parent-coach, she has to prove herself over and over and over and over, and then some, to get that position. But we had other coaches in the gym and they were very plain about it. ‘It’s Kylie, it’s Kylie,’ and I said ‘Are you sure?’ And she won that spot.

“When she got comfortable, she seized it and got comfortable. She just kept improving. It wasn’t until we started the season that I kept looking at my assistant going, ‘Is that my kid?’ She’s really grown into herself and a real product of what hard work does. She had to fight and claw for any playing time growing up and she worked hard in the off season. Once she got the confidence, she was a new kid.”

On Wednesday, the Spartans will see what is likely the best competition they’ve seen all year. But only a sophomore, Kylie is speaking like a leader for the years to come.

“If you asked us if we were going to make it to state, I would’ve said no way,” Kylie said. “We’re so young and we weren’t used to playing with each other. But we’ve grown so much in our chemistry. So, we’re going up against the No. 1 team in the state so, in our opinion, we don’t have anything to lose.”

Grundy Center is set to play No. 1 Western Christian on Wednesday, with first serve coming at 2 p.m. in Cedar Rapids.

Iowa Girls High School State Volleyball Tournament

At U.S. Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids

Quarterfinal Pairings

CLASS 2A

Wednesday, Nov. 9

Western Christian (38-6) vs. Grundy Center (25-16), 2 p.m.

Central Lyon (30-4) vs. Council Bluffs St. Albert (26-4), 4 p.m.

Unity Christian (34-4) vs. Mediapolis (33-7), 2 p.m.

Sumner-Fredericksburg (33-5) vs. Waterloo Columbus Catholic (27-13), 4 p.m.