All-Central Texas pick<\/a>, she and Cedar Park finished runner-up at state a year ago, something that fueled her and the team\u2019s success this fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cWe started off the season with that being our goal,\u201d Udoye said. \u201cWe brought that into everything that we did. \u2026 Throughout all of our practices and our training, we kept that in mind.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Joy Udoye (7) slams another kill for the Timberwolves as Cedar Park competed during third round action in the Class 5A playoffs against Rouse Nov. 7, 2023, at Vista Ridge High School. Rouse won the first two sets, then the fourth set, to dispatch Cedar Park from the quarterfinals, 3-1.<\/p>\n
Paul Knight\/Special to American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Cedar Park’s Joy Udoye took game to new level<\/p>\n
In an area loaded with talent \u2014 all eight players on the All-Central Texas first team have either signed with or are committed to a Division I\u00a0school \u2014 Udoye is one of the best. And though she has been one of Central Texas’ top players for a few years, her coach feels she took her play to another level this season.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis was the best version of Joy that I witnessed,\u201d Cedar Park coach Lori McLaughlin said. \u201cShe peaked at the right time as a senior. \u2026 And that\u2019s a testament to her training and all the time she\u2019s put in the last four years.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Udoye: a standout six-rotation specialist<\/p>\n
Udoye is more than just an outside hitter. She never left the floor for the Timberwolves as a six-rotation player and excels in passing, blocking and serving. But putting down a kill is her favorite thing to do, and she provided a matchup nightmare for opponents when hitting. Standing north of 6 feet with an impressive vertical and elite athleticism, her hitting power stands out.<\/p>\n
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Joy Udoye, a senior at Cedar Park High School, is one of the top 10 Austin-area volleyball players to watch this high school volleyball season. Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025.<\/p>\n
Aaron E. Martinez\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Though raw totals were down from a year ago, she still averaged\u00a0more than four kills a set and a 26.1 hitting percentage.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI was more consistent this season \u2026 and I just feel so accomplished (after a kill),\u201d she said. \u201cI like the competitiveness that volleyball brings. \u2026 I just like going out on the court. I find it enjoyable and an escape from regular life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joy Udoye: ‘Sometimes it still feels like a dream’<\/p>\n
Udoye was born to be an athlete. With three older brothers who were involved in sports, she was constantly around some sort of activity. Sometimes, she was part of the roughhousing that older brothers tend to bring.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat just brought a different type of personality out of me,\u201d she said with a laugh. \u201cAnd I would get to learn off of their (athletic experiences).\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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McLaughlin first saw Udoye at a camp after she took over the program in 2019. The coach thought Udoye was an eighth-grader when she actually was in sixth grade. Less than three years later, Udoye started as a freshman. And three years after that, she would provide the block on the match-winning point that gave Cedar Park a state title to cap off an exceptional individual season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes it still feels like a dream,\u201d Udoye said. \u201cYou ask yourself, \u2018Is this real?\u2019 \u2026 But it was an amazing experience to win it with such a close team \u2026 and I had good connections with all of my setters and teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Cedar Park’s Joy Udoye prepares to serve during the Class 5A Division II state championship game Nov. 22, 2025 at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mike McLennan\/Special to American-Statesman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joy Udoye, a senior at Cedar Park High School, is one of the top 10 Austin-area volleyball players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[20818,29134,2291,2292,1227,27,29,2293,28],"class_list":["post-87601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-athlete-recruiting","tag-cedar-park-timberwolves","tag-high-school-sports","tag-high-school-volleyball","tag-high-schools","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-high-school-volleyball","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}