Grant McKenna

Megan Hellwege, junior, discovered her passion for volleyball at a young age from watching her older sister, Ellen, play when she was a kid.

Hellwege started her volleyball career in the CYC league at St. Gerard Majella in third grade. Eight years later she is a three-time member of the KHS Varsity volleyball team.

“I love being part of a team,” Hellwege said. “I enjoy the game a lot and I have a lot of fun. So far at Kirkwood I’ve been blessed to have such good teammates to make the game that much more fun.”

Hellwege says her most memorable moment playing volleyball is when the Kirkwood team took on St. Joseph’s Academy her sophomore year.

“Beating St. Joe my sophomore year was definitely my most memorable moment.” Hellwege said. “It was the first time any Kirkwood volleyball team had beaten St. Joe. We set a goal to beat St. Joe, and we accomplished it.”

Hellwege says she plans to continue her volleyball career to the collegiate level, but it is not the only factor in her decision of what college to attend.

“As of right now I would love to play in college, but it depends on what school I get into.” Hellwege said. “I want to go to a big college to play, but I wouldn’t base my college choice just on volleyball.”

From the time she started to play in the third grade, Hellwege knew volleyball was the sport for her.

“There is so much excitement and energy in the game.” Hellwege said. “Ever since I began I knew I wanted to play volleyball competitively.”