Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Senior seasons can become stressful seasons for some athletes.

Expectations and pressures that accompany the final season of a career have a tendency to weigh on some players during their senior year.

It has been the exact opposite for City High senior CeCe Aldrich-Ingram her final season on the volleyball court.

“She has really high expectations for herself so in the past when she wasn’t hasn’t executed the way she wants or had an error she put more weight upon herself and been frustrated,” City High coach Tricia Carty said. “This year she is really letting some of that go and focusing on coming back the next point.”

An energetic sparkplug for the Little Hawks the past two seasons, Carty said Aldrich-Ingram put pressure on herself to perform during her first two seasons on the varsity team.

In her final prep season Aldrich-Ingram is putting that pressure behind and focusing the next play rather than the last.

Just three matches into her final season Aldrich-Ingram has looked like a totally new player.

“I just think I’ve learned that being positive is so important,” Aldrich-Ingram said. “We have to communicate as a team and we have to stay up, be ourselves and have fun.”

After posting 150 total kills in her first two varsity season a position change and positive attitude have helped Aldrich-Ingram become an offensive weapon for Class 5A No. 12 City High (2-1).

The senior has notched double digit kills in each of her first three matches on her way to a team-high 33 kills.

“She switched positions and I think she has settled in,” Carty said. “She is a super energetic person and now she is channeling that into being really disciplined. She is getting transition opportunities and it’s really helping in her ability to finish.”

Aldrich-Ingram had 10 kills to help City High snap a four-match losing skid to cross-town rival West High in its season opener.

The 5-foot-8 followed that up with an 11-kill outing in a road win at No. 14 Johnston and had a team-high 12 kills in three-set loss to 4A No. 2 Cedar Rapids Xavier.

“That’s a credit to how hard she has worked to maintain that composure, to learn from a mistake and correct it,” Carty said. “It’s really great to see players develop and mature in that way.”

The growth of Aldrich-Ingram as an offensive weapon has helped give City High a balanced offensive attack.

The Little Hawks have three players with more than 20 kills on the season joining senior Mia Loughran (28 kills) and sophomore Makayla Ribble (27 kills) in that category.

“Practice has been helping us a lot,” Aldrich-Ingram said. “We have been working as hard as we can at practice and trying to act like every practice is a game.”

Aldrich-Ingram is hoping the strong start is just the beginning in a memorable senior season.

“I definitely think this is the best position that I have been in,” Aldrich-Ingram said. “It’s just my teammates and everyone on our team communicating and believing in each other. We have a special team and I’m excited for the rest of the this season.”

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