Prospect Spotlight – Livia Ward – 2025 Setter
Every now and then we will do some special articles on those that are very deserving of an individual highlight to showcase their abilities. This week we will give special recognition to Miss Livia Ward from Mount St. Mary Catholic…
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Continue ReadingEvery now and then we will do some special articles on those that are very deserving of an individual highlight to showcase their abilities. This week we will give special recognition to Miss Livia Ward from Mount St. Mary Catholic High School and OP2 volleyball club. This young lady may not be new to some of our readers, but we enjoyed getting to know her a little and want to introduce her to the college coaches who read our articles and everyone else who should remember her name. We are proud to introduce our readers to Miss Ward:
Livia Ward [2025] 5-11 Setter (HS: Mount St. Mary/Club: Oklahoma Peak Performance/Verbal: Uncommitted)
Livia is currently an unranked prospect in the Oklahoma State Rankings, but that will change once I unveil the 2025 class in a few weeks. Stay tuned to see where I rank her on the list. Miss Ward is a fantastic setter/right side who plays at Mount St. Mary Catholic High School and also for the famed Oklahoma Peak Performance Volleyball club. So far she has been invited to the National Team Development program and also led her varsity squad to a state championship this year. She tallied 451 assists, 347 digs, 53 blocks, 38 aces, and 170 kills as a freshman on varsity. Liv is the total package that can literally do it all on the court. What truly shines is her love for the game and any coach would love to have her on their roster. Her length is a weapon and she utilizes it both as a blocker and attacker at the net. A lot of taller setters have trouble moving on the court, but not Liv as she reads the ball well off of her passers platforms and tracks the ball well to get stopped before contact. Her hands are smooth and she delivers a very consistent ball to all locations no matter the tempo.
This young lady is a phenomenal talent in the 2025 class and has many accolades to back that up. She is getting a lot of notoriety for her amazing skill-set and I was lucky enough to see it in person last weekend at our Top 250 Expo in Carrollton, TX. I moved her to the upperclassmen court during the six on six drills, which was comprised of some of the best players in the state of Texas, and she not only held her own, but shined amongst the competition. I also had a chance to meet her and her parents on that Sunday and it was truly a blessing. I sent her some questions to ponder on and here are the answers.
Prep Dig OK: Why volleyball? Why is it important to you? What do you love about it?
Miss Ward: I love volleyball because volleyball (in my humble opinion) is the most team-oriented sport that there is to play. Without a team, there is no volleyball. It has been present in my life since I was 8 and it has become a habit for me. There is honestly nothing comparable to the feeling of winning a close and competitive volleyball game.
Prep Dig OK: What do I love about my position the most?
Miss Ward: The thing I love about being a setter is being involved in every play. I love setting up my hitters for kills and probably get more excited than they do for their own kill. Getting a good pass is the best knowing that you can then run all offensive options.
Prep Dig OK: What are you looking forward to the most this club season?
Miss Ward: I am really looking forward to the moment all the pieces come together and my team plays as one. Club always starts off with a few rough patches, but eventually we all get used to one another and things run smoothly. Once this happens, we will become a very dominant team, which makes me excited.
Prep Dig OK: What do you think is your biggest obstacle this year compared to last season? How do you plan to overcome it?
Miss Ward: I honestly feel as though my biggest obstacle is injury. Higher-level volleyball gets more intense and injuries become more and more common. Being able to prevent injury by being smart in practice and in in-game situations would really help me.
Prep Dig OK: What are three individual goals that you have for this club season?
Miss Ward: I really hope to get a higher vertical for this club season. Becoming more consistent with my weight-training and vertical-building exercises is a huge goal for me. I’m always wanting to build my volleyball IQ, being able to run plays and run them effectively is another goal of mine. Finally, I want to improve my overall strength, this also applies to consistent weightlifting and workouts.
Prep Dig OK: Name two people that have influenced you in volleyball the most.
Miss Ward: The first person who has greatly influenced me is my 12’s season club coach Lisa Polcovich. She was one of my first coaches and really influenced me for the future. She totally changed my perspective on my attitude (which wasn’t the best) and made me realize how it affected my team. Another person is my current club coach Jeff Boyland. He has been someone who I have gone to for setting privates for years. He has completely improved my overall volleyball IQ as well as my technique and overall athletic ability.
Prep Dig OK: What is something a coach has taught you that lives in your head rent free?
Miss Ward: A coach once told me to imagine I had a string attached from my hands to my eyeballs, and if i dropped my hands while standing at the net waiting to block, my eyeballs would be ripped out. I would say it’s a pretty good way of remembering to keep your hands high and ready at the net.
Prep Dig OK: What other hobbies do you have outside of volleyball?
Miss Ward: I like to draw and have been drawing since literally forever. I also really like to bake all kinds of things and I play the piano.
We really enjoyed meeting and getting to know Miss Ward and hope you did also. She is someone that we will keep our eye on closely moving forward as she has a very high ceiling in the sport. I know her OP2 coaches will be able to cultivate everything she needs to make it to the next level. This young lady has what it takes to become one of the best players in the nation. Stay tuned for more on Liv.
We will be publishing more articles weekly to give recognition to those athletes who are playing great and deserve a highlight. Stay tuned for more articles on your favorite athletes. If you have anyone that you think deserves to be recognized as a player of the week, feel free to send me a message with their information. Or if you have anyone that you think have what it takes to be added to our database, please shoot me an email with some info at nov8vb@yahoo.com. As always, thanks for following our publication.