Nicholls needs another DoBee
September 25, 2014
Tigers head to district unbeaten
September 25, 2014
It feels like just yesterday that Houma native CeCe Williams was a volleyball terror at Vandebilt Catholic High School – a standout player that earned a reputation as being one of the most talented and powerful players in all of Louisiana.
Out of high school and blessed to be playing in the collegiate ranks, guess what? Williams is still doing what local fans remember – smashing volleyballs for kills and serving as one of the top performers on a winning team with championship aspirations.
Just like she did during her decorated career as a Lady Terriers, Williams is thriving at Xavier University of Louisiana, serving as one of the Gold Nuggets’ top outside hitters during her junior season.
Williams reminisced about her whole journey this week, touting that time surely flies when you’re having fun. She said the past few years have felt like an absolute blur.
“Everything is going so far for me in the past few years,” Williams said with a smile. “It’s like a blink of an eye, and I go from being at Vandebilt with my friends and family to now I’m already a junior in college. I went from being the young freshman here to now I’m one of the only upperclassmen on the team. It feels really weird, but I love it here. I love my teammates and my team. I just wish there were a way to slow down the time so I could relax and enjoy this while it’s here.”
For Williams, her ascent to college prominence came with a few growing pains along the way. The Houma native signed with the local college out of high school after leading Vandebilt to a dominant 34-10 record in her senior season – a year that included a trip to the LHSAA State Semifinals.
But at the college level, Williams said she has had to reinvent herself in order to stay successful. For Vandebilt, Williams was a multi-purpose player who was able to thrive at several positions on the court.
But at Xavier, everyone on the floor is someone who was also the best player on their respective high school team. So while she learned the speed and the tempo of the college game, the former Lady Terrier said she had to adjust to being a back-line player – something she rarely had to be at Vandebilt.
“When I got here, I realized right away that I wasn’t as tall as I thought that I was in high school,” Williams said with a laugh. “But I was still able to play a lot. They wanted me to come in and play right away, so I stepped in and I played the back row for my first two years.
“The tempo at the college game is much quicker. Things here happen so much faster. It really tests your ability to react because it’s like you’ve always got to be thinking when you’re out there on the floor.”
But after two seasons learning the ropes and adjusting to the speed of play from the back lines, Williams finally got her opportunity to be a powerful outside hitter this season as a junior thanks to a few unfortunate injuries have hampered the Gold Nuggets’ offensive depth.
Given her opportunity to shine, Williams hasn’t disappointed.
Now back at her prep position as a front-line offensive player, Williams has emerged as one of the top players for Xavier this season. Through the Gold Nuggets’ first six games of the season, Williams ranked third on her team with 42 kills. She’s also among the top players on her team with 44 digs, helping Xavier to a 4-2 record.
Williams said her biggest focus is competing at a high level to impress coach Hannah Lawing. Williams said she wants her coach to know that she can do everything that the injured players could do without any sort of limitations needed in game planning.
“I’ve got some big shoes to fill. I know that,” Williams said. “Playing outside this year has been a big adjustment. As we go deeper into the season, it’s all kind of coming back to me from my high school days, but I’ve got a lot of work to do. I knew that I had to step up, and I put in the work to make sure that I was physically ready. I just wanted coach to feel like she wasn’t missing anything. I want her to know that with me in there, we can do our same style of play and our same tempo and our same everything that we’ve done in the past.”
And while adjusting to her new role on the court, Williams said she is also adjusting to her new role as a leader on Xavier’s team.
Williams said the Gold Nuggets are a program in transition with several freshmen players who see floor time in all of the team’s matches.
Because of that youth, Xavier opened the season 0-2, losing home matches to Faulkner and Mobile to start the season. Since that time, Xavier has rattled home four-straight, including a four-set win at Tougaloo.”
The Houma native said the team’s main goals are in 2014 are to keep going strong, while striving for greater postseason success. Xavier has won three-straight Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Regular Season Championships and also three-straight Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament Championships.
But the school has yet to carry that success into the NAIA National Championships. Williams said she wants that to change. “Our first goal is to win conference again. We want to win it for a fourth year in a row. That would be a great honor,” Williams said. “From there, we need to break that ice and win once we get to Nationals. We want to have more postseason success. That’s our No. 1 goal.”
Houma native and Xavier University of Louisiana standout junior CeCe Williams gets low for a dig during a match this season. Williams is one of the bright spots for Xavier this season – one of the reasons the team is hopeful it can make a push to win championships this season.
