On Tuesday, September 27, senior Bailey Rikkola joined an elite group of athletes and added her 1000th dig ball to the trophy case. Rikkola joins only one other volleyball player, Demi Ploor, to put a ball in the case.

Rikkola has been playing volleyball since the seventh grade and has played every position from setter to libero. In her sophomore year, Bailey’s coaches approached her and said, “you’re wearing a different jersey this year.”

She realized volleyball would be a big aspect of her life in her freshman year of high school and has lettered every year since starting her high school career.

Rikkola says her favorite position is libero because she plays all the time and typically doesn’t get served.

Rikkola was a little surprised by achieving the 1000 digs.

“I knew it was a reasonable goal, but I didn’t know how close I was. So it was a surprise [to reach it],” Rikkola said.

According to head coach Roxanne Schopf, 1000 digs was one of Rikkola’s goals when she came into high school.

“Bailey is an awesome volleyball player, and in her freshman year, we started discussing goals and what she wanted to accomplish in her volleyball career at Sevastopol,” Schopf said. “One thousand digs were one of a few we discussed.”

Schopf was excited for Rikkola as this testament to her hard work.

“A lot of emotions go through your head as a coach,” Schopf said. “I am so happy for an athlete like Bailey, who works hard at everything she does to accomplish what she set out to do. The look on her face said it all!” 

Rikkola loves the game of volleyball and doesn’t rule it out as a possibility in college.

Some of Rikkola’s top honors in volleyball include All-State for the 2021 season, and first-team libero conference honors in her sophomore and junior year, with her junior year being a unanimous decision.