Hal Hargrave

11/21/14 Yaxley Profile

Sports

1500 Words

Don't let Brittany Yaxley fool you when she says that she is an ordinary girl off the court,

because on the court her petite statute becomes a force to be reckoned with.

“I think her small stature had people deceived for a long time about how good she truly was at

volleyball,” head volleyball coach Jenna Panatier said. “That is not the case now as people know

how good she actually is and they will commit to her game to try and slow her down. What has

changed with Brittany over the past two years is that her confidence is well beyond her physical

statute now and being more comfortable with the role of being the go to person on our team.”

Yaxley a junior volleyball player, who got named as a third team All-American for the 2014

season, is a local product who grew up just a few miles northeast from the University of La

Verne in Glendora. Her mother, Jennifer, alongside her 17-year-old sister, Ashley, and 16-year-

old sister, Kayleigh, raised her. Brittany is an exceptional sister at home, an efficient student in

the classroom and an all-conference player on the court.

The 20-year-old Yaxley who was born on June 29, 1994, and attended Glendora High school,

GHS, and graduated in 2012. Both her sisters carry-on the family legacy at GHS these days, with

Ashley returning back to her hometown after going to Los Angeles County High School of the

Arts, LACHSA, for her freshman and sophomore year, and is now a senior. Kayleigh a former

volleyball player turned dancer is a junior at GHS.

Formerly, a three sport athlete in high school with volleyball, soccer, and track, with soccer

being her primary sport, volleyball was an afterthought going into her high school sports years.

But, after making varsity volleyball her sophomore year and fully committing to the sport, she

stopped playing soccer her sophomore year and track after her junior year.

“I had originally tried out for volleyball my freshman year of high school. I originally did not

want to play because I had never played before but my mom had forced me into trying out for all

the sports,” Yaxley said. “At the end of my freshman year I really did not want to play more

because I was not getting the playing time that would've kept me interested into continuing on

with it so I thought I wasn't very good. Sophomore year I randomly made varsity out of nowhere

and I had no idea why or what I was doing, so my mom made me stick with it and I turned out

really enjoying it.”

Yaxley wasn't looking to play volleyball at the collegiate level out of high school and even

wanted to go out of state for school, but an ex-high school teammate, Randi Tomey-Peterson,

recommended for Yaxley to play volleyball at La Verne. Yaxley’s decision went final when she

realized she would be able to play for her club volleyball coach, Jenna Panatier, who was the

new incoming coach for the Leopards at the current time.

Yaxley’s modesty helps her maintain a level head and a good home life, where she uses her

outgoing personality to help others through the knowledge that she has gained over the years.

“I am very boring, I go home and watch Netflix and I coach volleyball on the side on the

weekends at Pacific Juniors,” Yaxley said. “I don't really like to go out. I'm a Harry Potter nerd

and I'm currently reading the series again for like the 17th time. I love Harry Potter, I like

reading it and watching old movies and memorizing all the lines.”

Teammate Destinee Sales says that the common joke around the team is about how much Yaxley

and senior libero Anna Suarez can eat and that all they talk about is food.

If her spunk and sarcasm do not draw you in to her playful personality, then her work ethic will

make you want to be around her to rub off on you.

“I hope that Brittany next year takes on the role of the leader and continues on with the hard

work ethic that we both have grown into working together the past three years,” Suarez said.

Yaxley has been through it all over for three seasons playing for the Leopards. Playing in a

regional tournament as a freshman displayed her future ability, fighting through a tough

sophomore campaign, as a team, only winning eight games showed her ability to deal with

adversity and leading her team to a 20-7 record in her junior year brought light to her hard work

paying off with the team reaching the regional tournament yet again, under head coach Panatier.

“After playing together for a full year now, we definitely have developed that team chemistry

that was missing last year with essentially the same exact team,” Yaxley said. “The past year it's

been figuring out each other's tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses, and knowing how to

compensate for each other out on the court to make is that much better, and it certainly showed

this year because we went all out.”

Last year a second team all-conference player and this year a first-team all-conference player

along with making the all regional team, Yaxley reached two huge milestones this season, with

now over 1000 kills and 100 service aces for her Leopard career.

“At first reaching those milestones didn't even seem real but it was such a great feeling,” Yaxley

said. “I had no idea I was even close to 100 aces and after they announced it within the stadium I

was shocked and honored to have reached that accolade in a Leopard uniform. I know these

accolades would not have been reached without my team and they deserve all the credit. It's not

about just me but it's truly about what the team has helped me do to set me up for success and

reach goals like these. I wish I could share this with everybody and that we could all have the

plaque that I received because it truly was a team effort.”

Yaxley lead the SCIAC conference this season with .66/service aces per set, which ranked 34th

nationally. She ranked second in SCIAC with 4.22/ kills per set, which ranked 18th nationally.

“She has gotten so consistent on the court over the years,” Sales said. “When she came in as a

freshman she already had the expectations from everybody coming in as a powerhouse and being

a big part of La Verne volleyball. Her biggest thing now that shows her strengths and why she is

so vital to the team is her consistency. For instance, everybody knows about the Brittany Yaxley

serve. Not just anybody gets 13 aces in one match like she did against Caltech. Watching her set

goals for herself is really incredible to see because it's not anything you ever see from anybody

else. She always sets the bar little bit higher every time and because she is so consistent she is

able to set what would be deemed as unrealistic goals to anybody else and attain them.”

Yaxley simply lives every morning to get up and be a part of a team like La Verne's where the

team is bigger than herself. Not only can she contribute with her physical prowess, but she can

continue to help others by encouraging them to work on their craft and be that much better by

shadowing her exceptional work ethic.

“Brittany to other people may come off intense and one that lacks emotion but she is one of the

ones that is the most emotional and passionate of all,” Suarez said.

Volleyball has been Brittany's security blanket for years with being able to rely on something

that is always a sure thing and has even left her scared to think of life be on volleyball after she is

done playing.

“I know in my heart that I need to have volleyball in my life in some way so we will see how that

all plays out,” Yaxley said.

Yaxley loves to sing her heart out to Blake Shelton and country music, yet she claims not to have

an extraordinary talent.

“I was thinking the other day about if there was a talent show what would I do,” Yaxley said.

“And I really don't have an answer for that but am trying to figure out what my secret talent is. I

don't have a secret talent but I enjoy a lot of things.”

Both Sales and Suarez as have described her as creative and entertaining, so whether or not

Yaxley has realized that extraordinary talent yet, I think it's fair to say that she has found her

secret talent both on and off the court long before she knew it, as a standout and a leader and

entertainer on the court and a role model for so many off the court with her creativity.

Hal Hargrave can be reached at hallett.hargrave@laverne.edu

Source List1. Jenna Panatier, ULV head women's volleyball coach, jpanatier@leverne.edu, 909-448-

40952. Brittany Yaxley, ULV volleyball player, Brittany.yaxley@laverne.edu, 626-589-06013. Anna Suarez, senior libero, anna.suarez@laverne.edu4. Destinee Sales, junior opposite, destine.sales@laverne.edu

Jenna:

I expect Brittany to build on what she has developed and have an exceptional season next year. Every

year she continues develop a little bit more and I think that shows both on the court and in the record

books with how she goes about her business. I think for her to feel accomplished as a senior she is not

only good have to understand the role that she has to play on the team but she also has to revel in it.

Destinee

To be honest my freshman year Brittany and I were not very close and there were a couple girls on the

team that I really stuck around the most. My sophomore year we started to hang out a little more and be

around each other a little bit more on the court when we realized a lot of our senior leaders were gone and

we needed to step up at least on the front line and be those vocal leaders on the court together.

I think Brittany may have been a little bit timid coming into the program her freshman year. Brittany was

an underdog for a while when she initially came into the program, but she showed her strength and now

has grown into it. I think it's been great for her to come out of her shell and show the team everything that

she is truly made of.

Brittany is a goofball. In the midst of a game she has her game face on and is stonefaced. But off the court

she is an absolute goofball. I spend a lot of time with Britney off the court now and she is a bucket of fun.

She is a really fun person to be around which makes it even that much more fun to play with her just to

know who she truly is off the court as well.

Our biggest joke on the team is about how much Brittany can eat because we all feel like that everything

that we always talk about is about food and she can put food away.

Next year will we expect her to continue to set those really high goals and not putting any real limit to us,

and we know that she will continue to be a true leader on the court. Britney is somebody that doesn't buy

into the fact of being afraid of being really good, so she never backs down and that's something that her

and I as leaders next year need to reassure our team that we can be national champions and not be afraid

of that.

ANNA

Since Brittany's freshman year I was her summer workout partner and I have seen a huge change in her

growth and development both as a player and as a person. Ever since then we have grown very close

together and everybody knows is now as Brittany and anna together.

I think that since we spend so much time together off the court that we know each other's tendencies

because volleyball is always talk about. Building chemistry both on and off the court has been vital to our

cohesiveness and I think it's shown on the court more than anything.

Brittany is creative, she is the one that planned everything for senior night and will take pictures that

every team outing.

Britney's growth has been all mental for her since freshman year. She always had the ability but it was

just knowing and understanding that she could truly be as good as she is.