ADRIAN — Former Reed City volleyball athlete Jacolyn Mullins is home during the summer getting ready for what she’s confident will be a banner junior season at Adrian College.
Mullins completed her sophomore season last fall. As a freshman, she played in 60 total sets and finished sixth on the team with 82 kills while also having five assists, 13 service aces, 101 digs and 12 blocks.
At Reed City, Mullins lettered in both basketball and volleyball and received all-league honors.
“Jac’s been great,” Adrian College coach David Kwan said. “The kid works really hard. We have some pretty good outside hitters that were upperclassmen. But she moves into her junior year and we’re expecting some big things, especially out of the back row, from her, defensively and serve-receive wise. We’re expecting some good things from her in that area of the game.
“I think she’s been really successful both athletically and academically here at Adrian College. I can’t say enough good things about her.”
Kwan said Mullins has been working hard during the spring to play six rotations and become a terminating hitter.
“She was actually one of the leading candidates in the spring for us in the front row,” Kwan said. “She was having to change her approach as a leftside hitter for us and she did a great job with it. We played a spring tournament in Toledo. As she comes back, this fall, it will be interesting to see if she can be a terminating hitter for us. Even without that, she does great things for us in the back row.”
Mullins said she sustained a concussion at the start of the season and missed some playing time.
“It took me awhile to get back at playing,” she said. “But I’ve been doing good.”
As a freshman, “It went really well,” Mullins said. “I stepped into a role that I was playing very nicely. I played defense very well.”
From freshman to sophomore, “I improved some for the mental part of the game,” she said. “I started to realize I needed to keep my mind open to it with college volleyball. Things are faster.
“Next year, I’ve definitely gotten stronger, so I’m excited to see how that plays into my abilities. I’ll be an outside hitter and looking to play all around. My serve has gotten tougher, so little things like that gets me into rotation.”
Adrian was third in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association last season, Mullins said.
“We got to the tournament and played Hope, but lost to them,” she said.
