One sister sets the other for 1,000th career kill for Cassville volleyball

By Kyle Troutman [email protected]

For nearly 13 years, twin sisters Audrey and Taylor Kennedy have done everything together, and their teamwork recently helped one of the pair achieve a goal she had been chasing since freshman year.

On Sept. 1, in the second set of a three-set volleyball sweep of Neosho, Taylor set a ball to Audrey, who spiked it for a kill, giving Taylor her 1,000th career assist.

“I feel like I have put in the effort and the work, and I finally achieved something that has been a goal of mine since freshman year,” Taylor said. “I also have the goal of setting the career assists record, so I’m still working on that. When I got to 1,000, it was surreal, to have all my teammates with me and that loving feeling.”

Audrey said while the kill may have looked run-of-the-mill, there was some pressure on the shot.

“I just wanted to get the kill for her so she could hit that milestone,” Audrey said. It was stressful, but it was really cool because we are sisters. It worked out how it should have.”

Taylor came into this season just 6 assists shy of 1,000, and with 15 regular season games and three tournaments before postseason, she’s hoping to top Jesse Edie’s career assists record of 1,505.

The Kennedys have attended Cassville schools since kindergarten, participating in volleyball camps since about third grade and joining the school team at the first opportunity in seventh grade. Both play volleyball and basketball for the Lady Wildcats.

Taylor and Audrey said though they are around one another all the time and play the same sports, competitiveness is not an issue.

“We don’t have a rivalry,” Taylor said. “We both have strengths in different aspects of the game, so we never really compete with one another.”

“Unless we are on separate teams in drills,” Audrey said. “But, we push to make each other and the team better. Healthy competition grows teams and individuals.”

“Also, when were are not on the same team, e always know what the other one will do,” Taylor said.

That spirit of teamwork and constant improvement has a knack for showing up when one of the twins may not be on top of her game.

“If I’m in a hole and down a lot, I will give it to Audrey because she knows where the other team’s holes are,” Taylor said.

“On the other side, if I’m not doing well, I can tell Taylor where I see the holes,” Audrey said.

“And, in basketball, we always know where each other is on the court — we have that twin telepathy,” Taylor said. 

The absence of rivalry on the court extends beyond sports, as even though Audrey is the older twin, both said those few minutes do not make a difference.

Only a couple matches into their senior seasons, Taylor and Audrey said they have high hopes for this year’s squad.

“I hope we win a district championship,” Taylor said.

“We are very strong and have a lot of young talent, so we’re pushing in practice,” Audrey said. “We want to make our team more competitive.”

“It’s our last year to make a name for ourselves, so there is some eight on our shoulders to hold ourselves accountable and stay disciplined to achieve what we want.”

The Kennedys make up half of the senior volleyball players, with Kami Stough and Keely Bailey also in their final seasons. The four have played volleyball together since they were little, all attending Cassville schools since kindergarten.

After spending their lives in school side by side, Audrey and Taylor are making their own plans for college — and they likely won’t be together. Taylor plans to attend Missouri State University to major in business, and Audrey plans to go to Ozarks Technical College to major in radiology.

“I’m sure it will feel weird at first because we’ve always been together and done everything together,” Taylor said. “It may be tough at first, but after we’re separate for a little while, we’ll be OK.”

“It’s exciting but different,” Audrey said. “College will be about experiencing going out on our own and experiencing life. And, our schools are still close together, so we will still be close and help each other out.”

Taylor will have the next opportunity to add to her assist total on Thursday, when the Lady Wildcats host Hillcrest. Coach Paige Huddleston said to reach the career record total, Taylor will need to average about 18-20 assists per match this season.