BILLINGS — Don’t be fooled by the contagious smile.
Billings Senior's Leela Ormsby is back in the gym with renewed energy and motivation after last season ended freakishly for the Michigan State volleyball commit.
“I slipped on the steps going to my car, landed really awkwardly. Wasn’t able to drive myself to school, we went to the doctor’s office and (found out) I broke my fibula,” Ormsby explained to MTN Sports before a recent afternoon practice.
Without Ormsby, the defending state champs were eliminated at divisionals in a five-set match that would’ve vaulted them to back to state.
“I can literally still see it, point for point in my memory … the last point of the game," the dominant blocker/hitter recalled. "Lost by one. And then the ball hit the ground and it was the worst feeling.”
Now healthy and dangerous following the worst feeling, Ormsby is eager to regain the best feeling in her final high school season, and the Broncs are eager to jump back in with not just one of Montana’s best high school players, but arguably one of the best in the nation.
“It’s so cool to have a kid like that on your team. Not only to be the best player in the state, but also to be one of the best in the country,” said Senior head coach Courtney Bad Bear.
Broncs' setter Addie Falls Down has played alongside Ormsby since the two were preteens.
“She brings such an energy to the court and to so many people around her. She makes you want to be better. Her level of energy on the court is unmatched,” Falls Down said.
Not that opposing teams will find much success containing Ormsby, but if there is such a scouting report, Bad Bear offers with a smile, “Get as many swings as you can while she’s not in the front row. She’s the best blocker in the state by far.”
Ormsby and her family recently returned from the Paris Olympics after watching the world’s best. Not that she needed anymore of an advantage, but imagine the mental notes she brought home.
