California native Kacey Nady returns to the dessert to follow her dreams and continue her love of volleyball. Growing up in Yuma, Arizona, Nady knew she would have to work twice as hard to make it as an athlete.

She began her journey in 7th grade where her team "didn't even block and the setter set from the middle of the court." After meeting the head coach of Arizona's indoor volleyball team, Dave Rubio, she moved to San Diego to play on her first club team. Through Coach Rubio's guidance, she met Steve Walker, who now stands as her head coach of the Arizona Beach Volleyball program. Nady's go-getter attitude caught the attention of many including Coach Rubio and it has led her to great successes. She now stands as a University of Oregon alumnus, a club volleyball coach, and aspires to keep going.

Kacey aims to live and be different. Where the crowd goes, she never follows. Inspired by her mother, has dreams of working in the medical field. Her warm heart also draws her toward pursuing a career as a D1 college coach.

"I gave it some thought and I know I would make a great coach," said Nady. "You're dealing with something every single day that's different. Your days are never the same. I love that. You are very impactful to girls' lives, which is why I want to be a college coach. College is a very pivotal moment in women's lives and I think I can be more of a mentor and a coach. I don't think there's enough great women coaches out there, and I know that I can and will be one."

As the positive force of the team, Nady like to looks at the bright side of each situation. Whenever someone is down, without hesitation, Nady does her best to keep her teammates focused and with their heads up.

ArizonaWildcats.com sat down with Blocker Kacey Nady to learn more about her volleyball journey, her love for the team, and what is next after Arizona Beach Volleyball.

On her transition from Oregon to Arizona…
"I spent 15 years of my life in Yuma, Arizona. You can't forget about that. And then I went to school in San Diego. I definitely missed (Arizona) because in Oregon, this last year, it broke the rain record. It rained more than it did over the last 100 years...It shattered the record from 100 years ago. Every day it rained in the spring, I could not stop thinking about Arizona. That's what got me through that terrible, dreadful spring was thinking about Arizona. It's been awesome. The beauty, there is beauty everywhere. The mountains here are awesome. There are mountains in Oregon, but not as massive. The sun shining down on these mountains make them so red. It's beautiful and I really like Tucson a lot."

On her earliest volleyball memory…
"My Junior year, I started playing. I would play after the indoor practices, and it was just me and my partner, she was one of my teammates and she now plays at Cal Poly. Her name is Hannah Hubert. She plays on fours there. We would play together and play in tournaments."

On what part of your game have you been focused on improving…
"Blocking - knowing when to block. Also, reading the hitter because I can tell when the ball is on or off the net, but watching the approach of the hitter, if it's slow or fast, their hand, and those types of things. Also my vision when I am hitting. Just looking to the other side and putting the ball where they're not. That's definitely what I've been focused on lately."

On who she is to the team… team role?
"I like the word inspiration rather than motivation. I would say I'm an inspirer and send positivity because I always turn to the bright side of things. If someone is complaining, I'll turn it into a positive or make them focus on something that's positive so they can take away from it and put it on volleyball. The girls are super nice, talk to me about a lot of life and ask me a lot of questions. I just try to instill confidence in them not only about volleyball but in life. It helps because I am the oldest on the team, and I'll tell them anything. I'm not a closed person. I'm really honest with them, so I think that is part of it too."

On team focus for the upcoming tournament…
"We will be focusing on competition. When the first whistle blows of the first set in the first match, we need to be ready, come out aggressive, and work on starting fast. It really isn't skill work, but more of a mind game. I think Steve (Walker) will even tell you we're really great and he's satisfied with practices. We work really hard, but we have to carry it over to a game and apply those techniques. It has to do with us being too mellow and not pumped up enough."

On her motivation…
"My teammates. I love them. I absolutely adore my team. If they're winning or doing something well, it gives me inspiration to do better myself. What keeps me going is the love for volleyball i have. I'm obsessed with practice. I'm obsessed with playing volleyball. It never gets old, and I don't think it ever will."

On life after Arizona Beach Volleyball…
"I wanted to do something in the medical field because my mom is a mammogram technician, I grew up in the hospital, and I look up to my mom. I love helping people, so I wanted to be in the medical field...I'm very inspired to coach. I coach at two clubs now and I coached Oregon camps for four years. The last camp during the summer, I coached over 100 hours of volleyball camps. I didn't even realize how much I loved it. Coaching will be next. If not, I am interested in playing beach volleyball. I do not want to go overseas for indoor. I want to stay in the U.S. If the opportunity arises, I would for sure try to pursue AVP or something of that sort. If not, I still want to stick around volleyball because I love it so much. Right now, I'm submitting resumes and trying to find a volunteer assistant position at a bigger school because I want to absorb as much information as I can, opposed to a smaller D1 school and being a good coach. I just want to be great, so I'd rather learn the first year or two and then base my philosophies off of that."

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