Two years ago, Oak Ridge volleyball claimed its very first district championship, and last season, the BlueJays recorded a program-record 24 wins.
Even though Oak Ridge failed to come away with another district title in 2025, the BlueJays aren’t going anywhere despite graduating their starting middle blocker and libero.
Looking at this year’s squad, Oak Ridge brings back perhaps the greatest athlete in school history junior Kaelyn Deckerd, who returns as the team’s leader in kills (351), digs (335) and service receptions (363).
In fact, after recording 351 kills as a sophomore last year, Deckerd now sits at 623 for her career and only needs 377 more to become the first player in Oak Ridge history to reach 1,000.
Along with that, Kaelyn is only 265 digs away from reaching 1,000 for her career as well, and very few players in Missouri history have ever reached both the 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs mark.
After winning Oak Ridge its first-ever girls state championship by claiming the Class 1 title in softball, Deckerd was named both The Cash-Book Journal and Semoball Female Athlete of the Year.
Deckerd also earned MaxPreps All-American honors for softball and is being heavily recruited by multiple Power 4 programs.
Having an athlete like Deckerd is a difference maker for any program, and head coach Starla Pulley knows she’s blessed.
Joining Deckerd as an outside hitter will be incoming freshman Tobi McFall, who Coach Pulley describes as one of the better players in her class for Missouri.
While Kaelyn was busy with travel softball this summer, McFall took over as the BlueJays top hitting option and helped them split sets with the likes of Leopold, which won last year’s Class 1 District 3 title.
Volleyball is McFall’s primary focus as she even stars for Pursuit in the offseason. Coach Pulley said Tobi is already having Division-I looks as just a freshman.
Coach Pulley believes Deckerd and McFall should be “game changers” for the BlueJays this fall.
Returning to the BlueJays starting lineup to join Deckerd and McFall is junior Kenadie Ward, who is now in her third year as Oak Ridge’s starting setter.
In her sophomore year, Ward finished with a career-high 766 assists and 272 digs one year ago. Through two seasons, Ward already has 1,521 career assists.
Next up, the BlueJays have a senior class of five, which features the team’s new starting libero Zoey Lohmann, Olivia Schaper, Grace Unterreiner, Addie Burnett and Shanon Long.
Lohmann returns as Oak Ridge’s leader in service aces as she produced a total of 68, while Ward and Deckerd paced her with 67 and 52, respectively.
As for Schaper, she is the BlueJays returning leader in total blocks with 42, while Deckerd came up with 34 and Unterreiner 30. Schaper also had the third-most kills for Oak Ridge at 94.
Another player to factor heavily into the rotation will be sophomore Ella Hobeck, who won a softball state championship with Deckerd.
Lastly, BlueJay sophomores Aliyah Price, Miley Glueck and freshman Paige Roth will also contribute.
This season, the players picked the team mantra “Nothing given, nothing earned.”
“Just the competitiveness with all of them — they all have that drive,” Coach Pulley said. “They know they have something special.”
