MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Alayna Corwin added another bullet point to her volleyball resume, recently verbally committing to Marshall University.
Corwin, a rising senior with the Morgantown High volleyball squad, notes her decision was based on different factors, such as her ideal undergraduate program (biomedical engineering), the head coach’s success and the way the coaching staff reached out and treated her.
“They’re in-state and going Division I has always been a dream. I never really thought it would be true until now,” Corwin said. “I’m very happy all my hard work has paid off. Marshall is great, the campus is absolutely gorgeous and it just feels like home.
“Originally I sent out a bunch of emails to different schools and they were one of the schools to email me back. The coaches are great. The head coach, Ari [Aganus], is in her second season at Marshall and has taken the program and done well with it. Same with the assistant coach, [Taylor] Strickland, who was the original coach to reach out to me. We had phone calls here and there, and they were so great with the whole process. Knowing that I could go there and have an official offer from them made it real. I knew as soon as I got off the phone with [Aganus] that I wanted to commit.”
Corwin is one of a five-person senior class that looks to expand upon last year’s state playoff qualifying team, and while Corwin’s goals are aligned with everyone else’s – winning the state tournament – she also wants to continue to build upon her strength and libero skills.
“Excitement was the first thing on my mind,” MHS coach Erica Manor said. “She’s the first Division-I athlete to come through our program in a long time. Our first initial reaction was, ‘Wow, this is so amazing,’ and as a program, we were able to celebrate that for a day, wear Kelly green and celebrate her accomplishments. She’s a big player for us. She’s an all-around skilled player – she was our captain and go-to kid – and ultimately she’s a good role model.”
Manor, a former Division-I player at Liberty, sees the skills needed for Corwin to thrive at Marshall. According to Manor, she has the commitment and thirst to build her game IQ.
“She’s still so thirsty to play at that faster pace and learn more things she may not have known,” Manor said. “It’s wild – when I was playing at that level, going into my freshman year, I thought I knew everything and boom, I didn’t. I’m excited for her to transform over the next four years at Marshall. Marshall is thriving under coach Ari and they’re being noticed.”
No, the point about her libero skills is not a typo – Corwin will be departing her role as a hitter at MHS to take over the defensive specialist position with the Thundering Herd. It’s not like she isn’t familiar in that role, though, as Corwin also plays libero for her travel team out of Pittsburgh. She believes her offseason workouts will help with the transition, too.
“I play for Pittsburgh Elite and have been working out at Viking Performance, as well,” she said. “I owe so much to them, they do so much for me. I picked up running during the coronavirus [pandemic], I lift, workout at least five times a week if not six, that’s my thing – I like to work hard and know I’m working hard for a lot of people.”
Being a dual-position player has helped Corwin learn how to read the court better than her peers. It was apparent in the 2019 season as she was communicating with her teammates, but it’s also apparent in her game from team-to-team.
“I was originally a hitter when I started playing and I realized I was a little too short to be doing that at the Division-I level,” she said. “Being a hitter and libero has its pros and cons, but I think being a libero has helped me read the hitter and [vice versa]. If I’m in the backcourt as a libero, I know what the hitter is thinking because I’ve been there. Say a girl hits line three times in a row, she’s not going to do that again because it’s predictable. It’s a good relationship to have, and I love it. I love doing both. I’m very excited to be a libero for Marshall and hit one more season for MHS.”
Corwin led the Mohigans in many different columns last season, namely in kills and attacks with 306 and 965, respectively. She also logged 249 digs and 63 aces on 367 serves to finish with an 87.7% serve percentage. She’s hoping to continue that production for MHS, and Manor believes she can go above and beyond her set goals.
“I want to take our team and do great things,” Corwin said. “It may not be through winning a lot of games or winning states – that’s always a goal – but for me, I want to inspire the girls, especially the younger girls. I came in as a freshman not knowing anyone or what to do because I was the only girl from St. Francis. But I worked my way up and worked to become a leader on the court and team, and I want to see the younger girls grow. I want them to get that grit to work hard and inspire girls below them – just continue the cycle.”
“With the three-week period rolling out, we had to be in pods, and she asked to work with the freshmen and be that role model on Day 1 coming in. That speaks volumes to her character,” Manor said. “Some kids, it’s very hard to see the movement of the ball, and she’s naturally picked that talent up. To see her progress, even though last season we played some tough teams at the beginning of our season and she was able to step in there, read and not only for herself but she was able to educate our other players.
“She’s our starting outside hitter but she’s an all-around player. Not only will she be aggressive defensively but when she gets in the front row she’s known for thumping some balls, too. We’re excited to have that well-roundedness from her as a leader to be successful this coming season.”
While Corwin was the only St. Francis girl to join the MHS volleyball team back in 2017, that’s not the case anymore. More girls in different grades came through the St. Francis program who are shining stars in their own right. This is a testament to St. Francis’ development of athletes, but it goes deeper for Corwin.
“St. Francis is a wonderful school. I carry so many of its values in my everyday life,” she said. “It taught me that to build relationships, not just those with the girls on your team but to have deepened relationships. St. Francis is a Catholic school, and I carry that faith with me every single day. I wear a cross necklace every day, every game because that gives me strength. If I had to go back, I wouldn’t change a thing. They inspired me since sixth grade, and ever since then I’ve worked hard and it’s paid off.”
The tentative opening date for high school volleyball in West Virginia is Sept. 2.
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