Volleyball Profile - Kenzie Aries
Contact Kenzie Aries

Quick Facts: Named 1st team All-CIF San Diego County by San Diego Union Tribune, 1st team All-CIF DIII setter, 1st team All-Coastal League, High School Team MVP, SCVA High Performance Team

Position(s):  Setter, Right Side, Outside Hitter
Jersey Number: 1
Height: 6'0"
Dominant Hand (Left or Right): Right

High School: San Dieguito Academy
Grade: 12
Graduation Year: 2008
GPA: 4.07

Volleyball Club: Coast Volleyball Club 18-1's
Committed to a College: Pomona-Pitzer College

Parents: Rod Aries and Linda Fritz

High School Volleyball Achievements
Coach: Dexter Harvey, San Dieguito Academy

Senior Year (2007 Season):

• Named first team all San Diego County CIF for Division I through Division V.

• Named first team San Diego County CIF DIII for second year in a row.

• Named first team All Coastal League for second year in a row. Finished 2nd in MVP voting for entire Coastal League.

• Earned team MVP award. I have earned an award all three years of varsity play and my freshman year I was MVP of our JV team.

• One of just six girls name to San Diego County's girls high school all-star, all-county volleyball team.

• Earned San Diego Union Tribune Girls High School All-Academic recognition.

• Three-year starting 17 year-old 6' varsity setter in 5-1 and 6-2 offense. I play outside hitter and opposite during my front row rotation.

• Named solo team captain.

• Committed to Pomona-Pitzer College to play college volleyball.

• Named a top 25 San Diego County volleyball player by the San Diego Union Tribune.

• Named a Top 25 North San Diego County volleyball player by the North County Times.

• Tournament performance: Even though starting team has one freshman, two sophomores, two juniors and only one senior, we made the gold division in each of three tournaments this year.  

• One of just six players to earn Gold-Division First Team All-Tournament setter in the Granite Hills Southern California Volleyball Tournament, which had 32 teams.

• I was named Athlete of the Week by North County Times. Played every meaningful minute of every game. Earned first team all-league Coastal League for second year in a row.

• Many "experts" predicted our young team to win as few as 10 games all year. We won 20 games, made gold division in all three of our tournaments and advanced to the semifinals of the CIF DIII playoffs.

Junior Year: Starting 16 year-old 6' varsity setter (my high school lists me as 6', my club as 5'11') in 5-1 offense, playing every meaningful minute of every game. Achieved first team All-CIF Division III for San Diego County. First team all-league for my conference. Earned Coach's Award at our team banquet. All San Diego County Academic Girls Volleyball honors. First team all tournament in a pool of 44 teams. Athlete of the week North County Times. My high school volleyball team finished ranked 9th in California. I work out every day with boys varsity team, in addition to club practices and beach tournaments.

Sophomore Year: Starting varsity setter in 5-1 offense, playing every meaningful minute of every game. In one tournament, due to injuries, I not only played setter, but middle blocker as well, setting out of the middle blocker position. Second team all-league for my conference. Earned Coach's Award at our team banquet. Worked out every day with boys varsity in Spring.

Freshman Year: Youngest player on the team. Starting junior varsity setter in 6-2 offense, playing every meaningful minute of every game. Earned Most Valuable Player at our team banquet. Only player called up to varsity at years end. Worked out every day with boys varsity in Spring.

Club Volleyball Achievements
Coach: Karolyn Kirby, Coast Mizuno 18-1

2008 Starting setter on Karolyn Kirby's Coast Mizuno 18-1's Team

June 2007: My team, San Diego Volleyball Club 17-1, did great at the Volleyball Festival in Reno. Out of 86 teams, we finished 13-2 and came in 7th.

USA Volleyball & Volleyball Camps

July 2007 High Performance Volleyball Team: One of twelve players named to 2007 Southern California Volleyball Association (SCVA) High Performance volleyball team. Travelled with the USA High Performance Volleyball Tournament to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida during the week of July 21-26. Her SCVA High Performance team captured a Bronze Medal at the USA Volleyball High Performance Championships in Florida.

July 2007 USA Volleyball High Performance Development: Additionally, Kenzie earned a spot on the USA Volleyball High Performance Development A1 Camp.

Attended numerous college camps at UCLA, San Diego State, University of San Diego and UCSD, as well as private camps such as the Pat Powers Volleyball Clinics (4 years).

Academic Achievements

Current GPA: 4.07
Earned San Diego Union Tribune 2007 Girls High School All-Academic recognition.
Earned San Diego Union Tribune 2006 Girls High School All-Academic recognition.
AP & Honors Courses: AP Physics, AP European History, AP English Literature, AP English Language and AP Studio Art

Other Activities, Awards & Honors

I write a weekly column for the Student Sports Volleyball section of Rivals.com. Rivals.com reaches more than 2.5 million readers, and has more than 180,000 active subscribers Rivals.com syndicates a variety of its content to major media outlets including Yahoo!, AOL Sports, SI.com, MSNBC.com, USA Today and Sirius Satellite Radio. You can read my most recent volleyball articles.

Sophomore Year: In track, I became the all-time record holder for shot put at my 70 year old high school. I broke the record in my fourth meet at 15 years old. I was all-league in track and went to the San Diego County CIF championships where I was the youngest person to medal in my event.

Meet Kenzie

Nicknames: Kenz, Kenner

Why I play volleyball: I am passionate about the game and it's fun.

My five best volleyball attributes: Intensity, commitment, passion, enthusiasm, enjoyment of a challenge.

When I leave college, I want to: be successful.

My sports heroes are: LaDainian Tomlinson (running back San Diego Chargers), Darren Sproles (running back San Diego Chargers), Courtney Thompson (setter University of Washington), Tom Brady (quarterback New England Patriots - for athletics, not for his personal life)

I collect: cats.

In my off-time, I'm most likely to be found: on the computer, at the beach, or hanging out with friends.

Something people would be surprised to know about me: I have really "girly" handwriting.

I'm most thankful for: everything I have.

Best book I have ever read: The Da Vinci Code

Favorite food: Seafood (especially sushi)

Least favorite food: Olives, French fries.

My favorite movies: Walking With Dinosaurs, Troy, The Mummy (Returns), The Scorpion King, Braveheart, Star Wars, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Apocalypto, Legally Blonde, Ms. Doubtfire, Milo & Otis, The Lion King, Scary Movie 1, Liar Liar, Million Dollar Baby, The Lord of the Rings (all of them), Jurassic Park, Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real, Walking with Cavemen, Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, 300, Borat, Blood Diamond, Charlie Wilson's War, South Park Movie

My favorite TV shows: South Park, Family Guy, The Simpsons, Survivor, American Idol, National Geographic, Drawn Together, Nature, Da Ali G. Show, Last One Standing, Futurama, Nature

My favorite music: Alternative Rock

My parents were right when they told me: Don't whine.

My favorite quotes:
"HARD WORK BEATS TALENT WHEN TALENT FAILS TO WORK HARD." --Anonymous.
"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it." --Anonymous
"It is better to open your eyes and say you don't understand, than to close your eyes and say you don't believe." --Anonymous.
"My momma said God has a plan for everyone. I guess I was Plan B." --Jimmy, South Park.