It all started in a middle school gymnasium in North Carolina. Dressed in knee-high socks, an old T-shirt and baggy basketball shorts, 13-year-old Ally Beckman shuffled onto the makeshift volleyball court with dozens of other eighth-graders getting ready for the first day of practice in the Apex Recreation Department’s volleyball league.
She did not want to be there.
“My mom actually signed me up. I did not want to play,” confesses Beckman. “It hurt my arms and I just didn’t want to do it. Thankfully, she urged me to keep going to all of the practices, and I eventually fell in love with the sport.”
That love showed five years later as she took the court as a member of the Cougars volleyball team. And it didn’t take long for Beckman to make her mark on the program. Ten games into the season, she set the record for the number of assists in a three-set match: 42 against Wofford College.
A few weeks later, she broke that record, with 44 against William and Mary. Then, she broke it again when she had 49 assists in a game against James Madison University. But it wasn’t just the three-set matches where she was a force.
In five-set matches, she set the College’s single-match record for the most assists in a game when she collected 68 assists against JMU. She also holds second place on that same list from when she had 60 assists in another game against that same university. Yes, she likes playing JMU.
This season alone, Beckman has inched her way to No. 7 on the College’s list of all-time career assist leaders. Oh, an important detail: She’s just a freshman.
Head volleyball coach Jason Kepner has nothing but praise for Beckman, who earned a spot on the CAA All-Rookie team and All-CAA third team honors.
“Her biggest strength has been her consistency,” says Kepner. “She allows other players around her to relax because they always know her set location is going to be the same. She adds a calmness on the court, one that everyone can rely on every day. We would definitely not have been as successful without Ally running our offense.”
Even though she is the first freshman in more than 15 years to collect over 1,000 assists in a single season, Beckman expects big things next season: “I want to continue to get better. I haven’t hit my peak, and our team hasn’t hit its peak.”
And when it comes to taking the program to the next level, Beckman is all in and ready to assist.
