LACES senior Tyrah Lacy has never been afraid to speak up, she is a tenacious captain of the girls’ volleyball team and a learned leader at her high school. Since the age of 13, Lacy has been dedicated to playing volleyball and started as a middle blocker.
Although she’s an all-around player, Lacy mainly plays at the outside hitter position. The best part of being an outside hitter is gaining the most hitting opportunities, according to Lacy.
“When it’s a bad play, the ball usually comes outside so you have more reps and you’re just more active during the game,” she said. “You’re doing more than just passing, it’s a diverse position.”
Along with playing for LACES, she plays club volleyball for the Starlings City of Los Angeles Girls Volleyball Club. This allows Lacy to play volleyball throughout the year.
Playing for LACES gave Lacy several triumphs and challenges through the years. This past season, the girls’ volleyball team had no coach.
“I actually worked to do the tryouts and solidify the team,” Lacy said.
Not having a coach did not stop the Unicorns from reaching the City Section Division III playoffs, upsetting the top-seeded Bravo Knights and making it to the semifinals.
This year marks her third year as team captain, Lacy’s brazen leadership skills helped the team when they endured a change in coaches during her junior year. Lacy was the voice of the team, explaining to their then coach the grievances and frustrations of her teammates. She played an instrumental role in the survival of the LACES girls’ volleyball team.
“That shows our strength, especially because our school isn’t looked at for athletics,” Lacy said. “We can care about a sport so much that we can make it last longer through coached and through not having a coach.”
To Lacy, being a student athlete means balancing school, athletics and a social life.
“A student athlete is being a well-rounded person,” she said. “Preparing you eventually to be a working adult.”
Lacy has enrolled in nine AP classes during her time at LACES, taking AP Psychology, Calculus, English Literature, and U.S. History among others. Her favorite class is honors physiology.
“That’s the track I kind of want to focus on in college,” she said. “Being able to introduce me to medical preparation class so early was just something that I really value.”
Along with the athletics and academics, Lacy is senior class co-president and the vice president of the BSU. She also created the natural hair club and help sophomores and juniors with the college application process as a college peer counselor.
As a senior class co-president, Lacy works to ensure that African American students are represented in the programming of activities.
The BSU on campus are working on their Black History Program and they are making a push to get younger students involved.
“We want people to understand that we’re a race that needs to be celebrated,” Lacy said.
For years Lacy has volunteered for former councilmember Herb Wesson and helped mentor youth during their summer camping trips.
“They take children from their community on a three-day camping trip and they introduce them to some aspects of camping, like pitching a tent, horseback riding,” Lacy said. “It fun to see all the children really enjoy being there because it’s so different to them that they find lots of joy in it.”
