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It’s not often in sports that a team has one player that can singlehandedly take over and dominate a game, but junior Faimie Kingsley has stepped into this role on the volleyball court.
In her time at DU, Kingsley has made herself one of the most identifiable players in the conference. Originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., Kingsley has had an interesting journey to make it where she is now.
“I didn’t even play volleyball until my freshman year of high school,” said Kingsley. “There were tryouts for tennis and volleyball during the same time. I went to the tennis practice the first day and then decided to go out for volleyball the next day, and I fell in love with the game.”
Kingsley’s passion for the sport has allowed her to have a resurgent season this year after coming off an injury-plagued 2010 campaign in which she only played in 35 sets. Despite her limited season junior year, Kingsley finished the season with 76 kills and 37 blocks, leading the team in blocks per set.
Kingsley leads the team in kills with 214 so far this season and ranks second in the Sun Belt Conference with 17 kills in a three-set match against North Texas. Kingsley is second in individual attack percentage in a single match with her .750 percent performance against Florida Atlantic earlier this season. She also leads the SBC in with 1.4 blocks per set.
A standout at Hotchkiss High School, Kingsley was not heavily recruited. Rather, the middle blocker was scouted at a summer volleyball camp while still in high school by a coach from DU.
“The coach at the boarding school that I went to for seven years suggested that I go to this camp, but I had not received any offers at that point. I wasn’t really even being recruited,” said Kingsley. “I guess when I showed up at the camp, the coaches here at Denver liked what they saw out of me after watching me play.”
In just the first four matches for the Pioneers this season, Kingsley recorded 61 kills and played in all 15 sets.
“I’m still kind of in awe of how I’ve been playing. It’s been awesome to know that I have contributed a lot to this team, and I know that I have to play my best for the team to be its best,” said Kingsley.
Despite a 6-10 start for the Pioneers this season, Kingsley looks forward to the rest of the season to continue her dominance.
“The start of the season was rough, to say the least, and these losses have been tough to deal with. However, our young hitters are continuing to grow, and if we continue to give 100 percent in practice and learn from our losses, the rest of our conference season looks to be promising,” said Kingsley. “I know that when I play well, it definitely helps, but for us to be successful our whole team must have their ‘A’ game. But I want to make one thing clear: people need to know that we are a contender.”
Since the start of conference play, the Pioneers have recovered, posting a 4-3 record in SBC play, and 7-11 overall this season.
Kingsley and the rest of the Pioneers wrapped up a three-game road trip over the weekend against conference foes Arkansas State, North Texas and UALR. The team will be on the court again on Friday at 7 p.m., taking on the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette in the Hamilton Gymnasium.
