By Rubin E. Grant
It’s a good thing Audrey Vielguth listened to her friends.
They kept telling her she could be a good volleyball player, so when she was in the seventh grade, she decided to play.
Vielguth has proven her friends right. Two years after she began playing, she joined the Vestavia Hills’ varsity team. Now a senior libero/defensive specialist, Vielguth is considered one of the top players in the state in the Class of 2024.
“I love playing volleyball,” Vielguth said. “It’s helped me with real life, giving me the kind of mindset I need to go through life. It’s also a creative sport and I get do a lot of different things out there.”
Volleyball brings out Vielguth’s competitive fire and gives her a chance to be part of a team.
“We love each other on our team,” she said.
Last year as a junior, Audrey Vielgut recorded 494 digs, 11 kills, 71 assists and 43 aces. Journal photo by Jordan WaldThird-year Vestavia Hills volleyball coach Ashley Hardee raves about what Vielguth brings to the court for the Rebels.
“Her volleyball instincts are as good as anybody I’ve ever coached,” Hardee said. “She is a great passer and defender, no doubt, but she also fixes so many things that go wrong during rallies. She has a feel for what is going to happen next. She’s good at anticipating plays and seems to always be one step ahead.
“She can control the game from the back row. We’ve got a lot of good players and a lot of smart players, but she has creative skills and makes a lot of plays, and she also makes the players around her better. Other coaches tell me they just enjoy watching her play.”
Vielguth is 5-foot-6 – “5-7 with my volleyball shoes on,” she said. She attributes her volleyball acumen to playing both indoor and outdoor volleyball.
“My instincts are definitely because of the years I’ve played,” she said, “but I also watch a lot of film of myself playing and I watch how the pros and college players play, trying to see what they do so I can get better.
“Beach volleyball also has increased my awareness. You have only one person on defense in beach volleyball, so you have to read the flight of the ball and react because there’s no one else who is going to get to the ball. In my head, I’m always saying that’s my ball and I am the one to get to it.”
Vielguth prefers beach to indoor.
“They are so different,” she said. “In indoor you have six players on the floor and in beach you just have two, you and one other. Personally, I think I like beach more ‘cause I get to use other skills, such as passing and killing.”
Two All-OTM Honors
Vielguth was voted to the All-OTM Volleyball Team the past two seasons. Last year as a junior, she recorded 494 digs, 11 kills, 71 assists and 43 aces, helping the Rebels reach the Class 7A North Regional and finish with a 29-10 record.
She is off to another strong start this season. She recorded 55 digs as Vestavia Hills split its season-opening tri-match, beating St. Paul’s and losing to Pelham, then going 3-2 in the Juanita Boddie Tournament on Aug. 25-26 with wins over McAdory, Albertville and Spain Park and losses to McGill-Toolen and Mountain Brook.
Vielguth had 20 digs last Tuesday as the Rebels lost to Northridge and beat Helena in a tri-match. She had 988 career digs when Vestavia Hills played Mountain Brook last Thursday.
Stepping
Up
Vielguth’s passion has evolved into her becoming the Rebels’ vocal leader this season.
“In the other years I was on the varsity, I would try to lead by action more than words and let the seniors lead vocally,” Vielguth said. “But this year, I want to be a vocal leader.”
Hardee welcomes Vielguth becoming the Rebels’ on-court voice, saying her competitiveness and work ethic has raised the bar in the gym while holding her teammates to those standards.
“I let my players, especially the seniors, end practice with things they want to say,” Hardee said. “Audrey steps up and says things that need to be said. She is not just leading by example anymore, but she’s a voice to be heard during games.”
Vielguth, whose name is German and means “feel good,” is a solid student and an outgoing, fun-loving youngster. Her hobbies include baking and any type of art. She usually turns what she bakes into a work of art.
“I personally like baking cakes, just because of the creative freedom when decorating,” she said.
Vielguth also has three rescue dogs from the Greater Birmingham Humane Society.
“Honestly, I can’t remember not having two or three dogs in my house,” she said. “The newest one, Dudley, we fostered him and then ended up adopting him. He’s a Mastiff mix.”
Vielguth, who plays club volleyball for Bama Elite, will play in college. She has committed to Southeastern Louisiana University.
“One of the coaches there I had talked to when he was at Coastal Carolina,” Vielguth said, referring to Southeastern Louisiana associate coach Collin Wilson. “I love him and I texted him to see where he was and he was at Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond. So, I looked at the school and I looked at the campus, and I liked the size of the school and the size of the campus. I also love the coaches and the atmosphere of the team. They’re gritty and hard working.”
Vielguth plans to study human sciences with designs on becoming an occupational therapist and work with special needs students in schools.
“I was talking to friend and that’s what her mother does,” Vielguth said. “I never heard of anything like that and that’s what got me interested. It’s something different.”
This fall, Vielguth is focused on helping the Rebels reach the Elite Eight state tournament.
“I am determined to get farther than we did last year,” she said.
That will be a tall order with Savannah Gann, the 2022 OTM Player of the Year who graduated is now at Sewanee.
“Savannah was a great player and I loved playing with her,” Vielguth said. “She was our go-to hitter, but this year our talent is more spread around. All of (the) players on the front row are hitters.”
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