Florida volleyball camp, summer of 2017. Parks was a gifted 10-year-old with setter skills beyond her years. Even better, she knew it. A day into camp, Parks sought out Wise, the UF coach, with a request to be moved up to a higher age group. The one she was in was too easy.
“I found her and was scared to death to ask,” Parks recalled.
As it turned out, Wise already had taken notice of the novice.
“She was adorable, she was tiny,” Wise said. “But I was so impressed by how much game she had for someone that young.”
Wise also was impressed by the kid’s confidence. The age-group promotion was granted.
On the last day of camp, Parks’ performance (and temerity) were rewarded when she was called up to take a bow as one of the week’s “All Stars,” by far the youngest of the bunch to be tabbed with the coveted camp accolade.
“One of the best days of my life,” Parks said last week.
That was seven years and countless sets ago. Parks, from Clearwater, Fla., went on to build an all-star prep and club team resume as a four-year starter, three-year captain and career record-holder in assists at Calvary Christian to go with AVCA and Under Armour first-team All-America honors in 2023. She did so all the while very much on the radar of Wise and her UF staff. Parks not only signed with the Gators last fall, but enrolled in January and instantly assumed the inside track to the No. 1 setter spot while the team awaits the highly anticipated return of superstar redshirt sophomore Alexis Stucky, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last September.
Parks’ first collegiate age-group promotion becomes official Friday night when the 11th-ranked Gators open the 2024 season at Colorado State, the first of three games in as many days in the Rocky Mountain State. UF fans got a first-look at the 5-foot-11 Parks last weekend when she debuted with 46 assists and eight digs in a 3-1 victory against a very sound Georgia Southern squad at Exactech Arena/O’Connell Center.
The Gators – with Stucky, as well as a trio of seniors in outside hitters Kira Hutson and Madi Gravlee (shoulders), plus middle blocker Gabrielle Essix (knee) sidelined by injuries – weren’t at their best in the abbreviated match. Parks, though, distinguished herself through her setting savvy and by…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Florida Gators…