An offseason might be a foreign concept for Briar Ray.<\/p>\n
The recent Oakland-Craig graduate made the quick transition between seasons from volleyball to basketball to track and field to summer softball throughout her four years of high school.<\/p>\n
She participated in a sport all 12 possible seasons and lettered in 10 of those.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had maybe one day off each month in June and July (last year),\u201d Ray said. \u201cI was pretty booked up in those times. I\u2019d usually have weights in the morning, then have open gym for volleyball or basketball, then have softball practice, then probably be back to be playing volleyball or basketball for a summer camp and then maybe even have a softball game, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always something every night, so it\u2019s kind of crazy that I don\u2019t have that now. It\u2019s even scary a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
While things have slowed down only a little bit for Ray this summer as she focuses on preparing for playing volleyball at the College of Saint Mary in Omaha while still playing softball, her impact for the Knights is far from being over.<\/p>\n
Ray has played a big role in the continued success of the Oakland-Craig volleyball and girls basketball programs, which have become regular qualifiers in their state tournaments.<\/p>\n
And while Ray had the standout senior seasons that made her an all-state selection in both of those sports, it\u2019s her other qualities that the coaches who know her best talk about more than her impressive stat lines.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not surprising considering that Ray didn\u2019t put in all that time for herself during her busy high school summers but for her teammates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of pride myself in being a multi-sport athlete,\u201d Ray said. \u201cA lot of people can put in a lot of time and be good in one sport, but I just try to not only be there for my now sport volleyball, but I tried to be there for all my sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t want to be a one-sport athlete. I wanted to be well-rounded because I wanted it not just for myself but for my teammates. My teammates love basketball, so I wanted to be the best basketball player I could be for them. That\u2019s what made me work so hard in every sport that I was in.\u201d<\/p>\n
For her performance over the past school year, Ray has been selected as the Daily News\u2019 girls athlete of the year.<\/p>\n
In volleyball, she broke the Class C2 season record for kills with 650, averaging 6.3 per set with a .251 hitting percentage. She added 421 digs, 90 aces and 541 serves received to help the Knights finish third in Class C2.<\/p>\n
Ray averaged 18.1 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 3.8 steals in basketball to lead Oakland-Craig back to the state tournament one year after she helped the Knights claim a Class C2 championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty happy with how it all went,\u201d Ray said of her senior year in sports. \u201cObviously, we would have liked to have two state championships, but we\u2019re really happy with how we finished out and what we accomplished. To do anything with my best friends on the court is special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ray was a huge part of Oakland-Craig\u2019s success this year in volleyball and basketball, and that wasn\u2019t only because of her production.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe just was such a leader for us obviously as far as her skill level but also with the person that she is,\u201d Knights volleyball coach Becky Rennerfeldt said. \u201cShe\u2019s just a great leader, and she was our go-to for everything. She did a great job, and she was the reason why we were able to have as successful a season that we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Girls basketball coach Scott Guzinski said Ray could have averaged 20-plus points per game if she wanted to, but that\u2019s not the type of player that she was.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe just did whatever was necessary for us to be successful, and I think that showed how much confidence she has in herself,\u201d he said. \u201cShe didn\u2019t always have to be the one to score the points or handle the ball. She just wanted to win, and she didn\u2019t care how we did that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ray made a strong impression on Guzinski in volleyball, which he admits he \u201cdoesn\u2019t know diddly about\u201d and sits in the stands as a parent to his daughter, Sonya, who has been a classmate and teammate of Ray\u2019s since fourth grade.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen our kids were in subdistricts playing Laurel and things weren\u2019t going well, (Ray) was always talking,\u201d he said. \u201cEverything that she says is always positive. She always tries to uplift her teammates. I\u2019m not sure I could do that in that situation. Even when things aren\u2019t going well, that\u2019s just who she is.\u201d<\/p>\n
And when things are going well, opponents better watch out.<\/p>\n
The prime example of that was the first-round state volleyball matchup against second-seeded Guardian Angels Central Catholic.<\/p>\n
Ray piled up 39 kills in the four-set win to surpass the Class C2 single-season kills record of 577 set by her teammate, Brandi Helzer, one year earlier.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew she was obviously doing really well, but I didn\u2019t know the exact number of kills that she had,\u201d Rennerfeldt said. \u201cAt a certain point, one of the girls said that she thought she was breaking the record. But at that point, all I wanted to do was win.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfterwards, it was really cool and fun to celebrate her success in that game. It got to that point where she was just money, so we just kept feeding her because they didn\u2019t have an answer for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even seven months later, Ray is quick to deflect any credit for that type of performance and make sure that it is honored as a team achievement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat match was kind of like a dream to me,\u201d she said. \u201cLooking back, it was so incredible. The crowd was so insane.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was electric the whole time, and my teammates couldn\u2019t have been more supportive through the whole thing. They saw that I was starting to get hot, and my setter kept feeding me the ball. My teammates kept hyping me up every time, so it was pretty cool to be surrounded by such amazing people the entire time.\u201d<\/p>\n
To break a state record held by a former teammate was a special achievement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredible to play with such amazing talent through the years, and then to get up to their level my senior year is pretty awesome,\u201d Ray said. \u201cI have siblings, so who knows? Maybe they\u2019re next up. But it\u2019s pretty awesome to have that right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
That Ray turned out to be such a successful athlete during her high school career wasn\u2019t a shock to her coaches.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been an athlete, and when you\u2019re in a small town, you know who your athletes are,\u201d Rennerfeldt said. \u201cShe\u2019s been an athlete since I moved here, and in her freshman year, she was good in the gym. It took her a little while to get out the freshman jitters with the inconsistency, but she ended up starting for us toward the end of her freshman year.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo she played in the state tournament in four years. She was a right-side for us that freshman season, and even as a freshman, she had that \u2018let\u2019s go\u2019 attitude of doing everything that I can to win that game. There were even some moments that freshman season at the state tournament that we needed her. I knew that she was going to be a game-changer for us, and then every year, she got a little bit better. By her senior year, she was just a huge asset for our program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guzinski got to see her potential in grade school.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s always been basketball-wise super aggressive,\u201d he said. \u201cWe came here when my daughter, Sonya, was in fourth grade, so I\u2019ve coached those kids since then.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Briar) has always stood out that even when she wasn\u2019t the most skilled player, she would still play harder than anyone else and was really, really aggressive to the point where she would foul people all the time. We had to get her to back off a little bit. She\u2019s always had talent, but early on, it was just her having that motor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sports have always been important to Ray.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember a time in my life when I wasn\u2019t going to sporting events and playing sports,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty special to get the awards that I\u2019ve gotten, the experiences, all the friendships. I couldn\u2019t be more grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n
A supportive family has helped Ray reach her full potential athletically.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think a lot of that comes from her parents being all-in on activities and sports and wanting our school to be successful,\u201d Guzinski said. \u201cThey\u2019ve taught all four of their kids that if it\u2019s important to them, they make it family time going to these tournaments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ray recognizes everyone who has helped her along the way so that she can do things like have a 39-kill match in a state tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t do it without family, friends, coaches, teammates, community \u2013 everyone,\u201d she said. \u201cI have to give a lot of credit to them because I wouldn\u2019t be in position to do that if it weren\u2019t for them helping put me on that state stage or putting me in youth camps.\u201d<\/p>\n
Volleyball was the college choice for Ray, although basketball made a comeback bid after the Knights won their championship during her junior year.<\/p>\n
And the College of Saint Mary\u2019s quickly felt like the right place to pursue playing at the next level.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I went on my college visit, the coach made it feel really homey, and I could just tell he believed in me and knew what I can do,\u201d Ray said. \u201cThat made me excited for what is to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
She plans on majoring in elementary education and minoring in coaching. A return to Oakland-Craig someday is in the realm of possibility.<\/p>\n
\u201cSports have been in my life forever, and I would love to come back here and coach because this place has been so special to me,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see what the future holds, but it would be pretty special to be able to come back to my hometown.\u201d<\/p>\n
Guzinski joked that in 10 years when he\u2019s ready to take on an assistant coach role, he would love to work alongside Ray.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe would be so good for kids,\u201d he said. \u201cI think she understands that kids play their best when they feel good about themselves and are confident. She can correct people, but she does it in such a way that she\u2019s not demeaning or negative. She\u2019s got that next-play mentality, and she can spread that to others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rennerfeldt also sees an excellent role model in Ray who could make a smooth transition to the coaching profession.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung girls in our elementary look up to her, and that goes along with her character,\u201d she said. \u201cShe has a great character, so she\u2019s a great person to look up to.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s mentioned that her dream is to go get her teaching degree and then come back to Oakland to teach and coach. We\u2019ve kind of joked about how she can be the next Oakland-Craig volleyball coach. She\u2019s going to be a legacy here forever and definitely someone girls will continue to look up to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each year, the senior girls basketball players write an essay for a scholarship. Guzinski said his favorite part from Ray\u2019s essay was her remembering watching from the stands as the girls basketball team played in the state tournament about 10 years ago, wanting to be one of those players someday who the little girls look up to and hope to become.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a kid right there who gets it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about them. It\u2019s about paying it forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that might be the biggest part of Ray\u2019s athletic legacy at Oakland-Craig even with all of her impressive statistics and performances.<\/p>\n
\u201cRole models to me are everything,\u201d she said. \u201cGrowing up, I had so many incredible role models, so I knew I wanted to make the same impact they made on me.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I stepped on the court, I wanted to make the best impression to everyone whether I was playing my best ball or my worst ball. I wanted to show that I had my energy through the entire game, gave the best effort that I could give and just tried to leave it all out on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n
2025: Sophie Humphrey, Battle Creek<\/p>\n
2024: Chloe Hanel, Clarkson\/Leigh<\/p>\n
2023: Laney Kathol, Cedar Catholic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An offseason might be a foreign concept for Briar Ray. The recent Oakland-Craig graduate made the quick transition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[2454,143,145,144,14502,7496,2468],"class_list":["post-364326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-basketball","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-softball","tag-sport","tag-volleyball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}