Racking up over 50 kills this season, senior Kelly Yan has shown her dominance on the court this year on Diamond Bar High School’s volleyball team. 

In sixth grade, Yan became curious about volleyball when she saw tryout sheets in the girls’ locker room. Her father played in college and helped her practice underhand serves at English Spring Park. 

“When I told [my dad] about trying out, he was excited, which motivated me to try and get on the team,” Yan said via Instagram. 

Yan was chosen to play for her middle school volleyball team as a sixth grader. The opportunity to play alongside older and more experienced players allowed her to progress her skills. 

In hopes to further improve her abilities, Yan started to play club volleyball in seventh grade, which led her to dedicate more time towards playing the sport. However, in order to allot more time and her academics, she now practices around four-five times a week for two hours.

As an outside hitter Yan goes outside of the court and hits the ball from the left side, but also plays in the back row to pass. Yan refined her skills each day by doing a variety of drills. 

“[I’m] focused on little things that I could improve on,” Yan said. “I really had to develop time-management skills in order to ensure I keep up with school and volleyball.” 

Working hard this past season, Yan saw a lot of improvement and was a major contributor to the Lady Brahmas’ success this season as they ended with an overall record of 16-12.

Nonetheless, Yan wants to focus on her education moving forward with hopes to play recreationally as she moves on. 

“Volleyball has taught me a lot over the years, the most valuable thing I learned is that I need to put in effort into getting better,” Yan said.