Friday Feature: Macy Bailey
by Wade Steinlage
Beginning with pickup games in her grandma’s backyard, Macy Bailey has always had a love for volleyball.
A senior setter on William Penn’s women’s volleyball team from Bondurant, Iowa, Bailey draws her roots to the sport back to Sunday afternoon matches with whatever number of relatives were available to step on the grass court.
“Neither of my parents played volleyball, but my family just loves it,” Bailey said. “It really just started in my grandma’s backyard. Then when my mom married into the family, they played even more. In fact, as wild as it sounds, they actually started visiting the women’s prison near where I am from (the prison is in Mitchellville) and they would scrimmage against the inmates.”
Despite being in and out of the lineup in her four years as a Statesmen, Bailey has not been deterred from putting forth her best effort each and every day. A setter since she was a freshman in high school, Bailey eclipsed the 1,000-assist mark at William Penn this fall.
“I won’t lie, it’s been tough and disappointing at times to have not played all the time, but it’s just a game and I want to be the best teammate I can be,” Bailey said. “Obviously, I want to play, but if I am not getting the job done, I understand I need to be taken out.”
Bailey not only played high school ball at Bondurant-Farrar, but also honed her skills through the high school’s club program as well as with the Iowa Performance Volleyball Alliance club team.
“I had some great memories in high school; we even made it to the state club tournament one year,” Bailey said. “I played soccer when I was younger, but nothing ever compared to how much I love volleyball.”
A person who just gets numbers and the organization of them, Bailey, who is a General Accounting major, plans to stay in the family business after graduation, working at her father’s certified public accounting business.
One who likes comfort, her volleyball world was thrown into turmoil this past spring, however, when Aleesha (Cleaver) Rabedeaux resigned as head coach of WPU’s program. Fortunately, for Bailey and the other upperclassmen, a former graduate assistant of Rabedeaux’s, Lauren Eldridge, was hired as her successor.
“I was not recruited by Coach Lauren, but we have always had a really good relationship, from when she was my previous coach, then when she went to Culver-Stockton, and now as our current head coach,” Bailey said. “When Coach Rabedeaux told the senior class she was stepping down, I immediately texted Coach Lauren to see if she wanted to come back.”
“It has made the transition much easier for me and I think I have been able to help the younger players to understand where Coach Lauren is coming from, and hopefully that is making it better for them as well,” Bailey added.
When not setting perfect balls for her attackers, Bailey can be found behind a good book in her leisure time. Currently, she is enthralled with the romance mysteries of Colleen Hoover. A close second, though, are various projects with her mom, which include wood-working (she recently made a blanket ladder) as well as breeding rabbits and dogs.
Bailey sees herself as a trusted leader on a Statesmen women’s volleyball team that is looking to finish the 2022 campaign strong and make a deep postseason run.
“I like having a lot of friends and I hope my teammates know they can always come to me with anything,” Bailey said.
In the end, though, family is always the siren that calls to Bailey. Whether it be volleyball or wood projects or eventually working alongside her dad as an accountant, Bailey knows where her heart is.
“Family has always been really important to me,” Bailey said. “One of the reasons I was so excited about coming to William Penn was that I could play volleyball close to my family. I can’t wait to start the next chapter being close to them.”
