Gragg notches 1,000, joins elite company

• Huntington's Dylana Gragg got her 1,000th kill last week, becoming the third Huntsmen to ever do so.
• Gragg now has marks of 334 kills, 19 aces, 46 blocks, 189 digs and 218 assists on the year.
• The senior has led her Huntington team to a 16-3 overall record and a 9-2 mark inside SVC play.

CHILLICOTHE — Dylana Gragg is now a part of an exclusive club.

Only three players in Huntington volleyball history have reached 1,000 kills — Courtney Jenkins (2007), Jackie Kellough (2012) and as of just one week ago, Gragg.

The senior needed just six kills heading into last Thursday's contest against Zane Trace in order to join the sorority. In that match, she hit her mark and then registered 28 more for good measure.

"It's been my goal and what I've looked forward to since I was a freshman," Gragg said. "I was lucky enough to get to watch my cousin Jackie (Kellough) do it. I was on the court with her when she got her 1,000th kill and I thought at that moment, 'that's freakin' awesome. I want to do that. I want to be that'. The two players that did it before me were two girls that I really looked up to. So this is pretty awesome."

Gragg has been on a sweltering streak during her last year as a Huntsmen. In 19 games this year — 63 sets played — the middle hitter has racked up numbers of 334 kills, 19 aces, 46 blocks, 189 digs and 218 assists.

She gets that level of talent honestly.

"My mom has coached volleyball and basketball for as long as I can remember," Gragg said. "So I grew up in the gym and was one of those little gym rats. But fourth grade was my first year in club volleyball and I loved it. I started playing SOVC and everything about it, I loved. So my family has put in countless hours and money into this and I couldn't be more grateful for that. Without my support system, I couldn't have achieved as much as I have."

This season, Huntington is 16-3 overall and 9-2 inside Scioto Valley Conference play. To find the last time Huntington racked up more than 16 wins in a season, you'd have to travel back to 2011 where the Huntsmen went 18-8.

As impressive as all of those numbers may be, one thing matters; wins and with Gragg in a green uniform, Huntington has done a lot of it. To be exact, the Huntsmen are 59-31 overall and 32-21 inside conference action in her four years of service.

"I could not have achieved that without my teammates," Gragg said. "You know, that passer has to get the ball to the setter. Then the setter has to get the ball up and place it. So I can't thank the girls enough for helping me get to where I am. They were all so supportive when I got it and all signed the ball. It was just awesome."

Her teammates' efforts have also catapulted Gragg into the 2015 SVC Player of the Year discussion and rightfully so. In most circles, the consensus seems to be that the award will go to Gragg, Adena's Devon Putnam, Unioto's Abbey Winegardner or Westfall's Hannah Phillips.

Gragg is just happy to be in the conversation.

"It's just such an honor to even be compared with those names," she said. "The SVC is just such a strong volleyball conference. No matter what happens with the voting at the end of the year, anyone of us deserve the award. Whatever happens, I'll be proud of all of us and know that none of us could've done any more or tried any harder."

Put aside the numbers. Put aside the individual awards. There's one thing that Gragg wants more than anything.

"Our goal is to make it to the regional level," she said. "None of us have ever done that before. I couldn't tell you the last time that a Huntington team in general has made it that far. But that's our goal. That's something we've talked about as a team and we're going to get there. We have the talent and the potential. We just have to make it work."

The Huntsmen have three conference games remaining — Westfall, Paint Valley and Adena — before getting a chance to reach their ultimate goal.

dwebb@chillicothegazette.com

Twitter: @dw1509