BLOOMINGTON - The fun is done for Ashley Beyer. The high school volleyball season came and went faster than a quick set to the 5-foot-11 outside hitter. | All-area teams

Beyer packed as much fun as she could into Bloomington's 33-5 season and comes away with Pantagraph Area Player of the Year honors.

"I'm going to miss the girls and the fun we had," said Beyer, a longtime member of the Illini Elite Volleyball Club.

"It's a lot different than club. In club you have fun, but you see each other all day every day (in high school). We all love each other so much and just get along great."

The Purple Raiders meshed well enough to win Big 12 Conference, Intercity and regional championships before bowing to Metamora in the Class 3A Elite Eight.

BHS opponents stared through the net at a person having a ball in more ways than one as she used her ability to jump and touch 10 feet high to average 4.9 kills per game. Her 375 kills were a school single-season record.

Beyer finished with 777 career digs, 12 shy of the school record, and her 1,025 career kills rank second. She tied the single-match school record of 22 kills in the sectional final.

"She's always having fun out there," said BHS coach Joe Sanders. "She plays smiling and carrying on all the time and that's just the way she is.

"When it comes to being respectful of people she should be, she is. She's at a place where she appreciates her opponents' effort as much as her own. That's another sign of maturity."

Over the years, Beyer has grown to see mistakes are best left behind.

"If you mess up, you mess up," said the Georgia Tech recruit, who will be a six-rotation player in college as she was at BHS. "There's really nothing you can do about it."

That philosophy spelled trouble for the opposition.

"In the last two years, she is a lot more resilient and a lot more flexible emotionally," Sanders said. "People used to know that if they got her in trouble, she would really break down. She's just not that way anymore."

Beyer didn't limit her fun to just matches.

"It helps get practice moving the right way," said Sanders of Beyer's lively demeanor in training. "She's a great kid. It's been a joy having her around."

It's easy with the right coach.

"I've been with him basically my whole volleyball career," Beyer said. "He's a great guy. He knows what he's talking about."

It also helps a hitter to have a Division I recruit at setter such as the Illinois State-bound Kristin Stauter, who delivered a school record 2,284 career assists.

"She always knows what she's going to do, can read the block and stuff," Beyer said. "It's awesome."

Yes, the fun of high school volleyball is over. Thank goodness another club season and four years of college ball await.