Mallory Ladd stood tall on a court of Texas giants

Wright State University senior outside hitter Mallory Ladd was one of the most talked about players by ESPN broadcasters during the Raiders’ NCAA volleyball tournament game against fourth-ranked Texas.

At 5-foot-6, Ladd was a foot smaller than Texas’ front line, whose tallest players are listed at 6-5 and 6-4, but Wright State coach Allie Matters believes the Texas women were closer to 6-6.

As a result, the most unique season in Wright State volleyball history came to a close as the Raiders fell to the Longhorns in the second round of the NCAA championship. 

The Raiders dropped the opening set 25-12 before a pair of 25-16 sets to wrap up the season. Wright State hit .056 on the night with a season low 30 kills and an uncharacteristic 24 errors, while Texas collected a .386 hitting mark with 37 kills and only five errors.

 In her final match as a Raider, Ladd led the offense with eight kills while her roommate, Celia Powers, had seven kills.

“Obviously, we came into the match as an underdog, and we knew that,” Ladd said. “Our coaches just told us that any way to win that match was to just come out and be fearless and you’ve just got to swing away. Tipping was not going to work, but when we were able to swing, we were able to tool the block and that is what gave us a lot of our points. The score does not represent how it felt out there and I feel like we are better than what the score represents.

“Obviously, in the Horizon League there is no one of that size and jumping ability, so it was definitely at-times nerve-wrecking. But I feel like we handled it well and we kept our composure. They got a lot of big kills and I feel like we kept our composure and just kept a good attitude throughout the match,” Ladd continued.

Matters added, “They are really big. It is one thing to watch it on TV, and it is another thing to actually be on the floor across the net from some of those athletes.

“I think the scores didn’t really reflect how we felt, so I think that you look at the box score, it looks like we got a pretty bad beating. But in the moment and during the match it never really felt like it. I felt like it was back and forth, we had good opportunities. I thought we served tough, I thought we passed better than them, but when kids are 6-5, 6-6, you can only do so much. So, I thought we battled as best we could.

“I think it comes down to a physicality thing. I think even if every single one of our athletes played the best volleyball they could possibly play, I think it would still be a pretty tight match. So, I think you only know what you know and you can only work on what you are exposed to, so even for us to try to work on what Texas was going to do in the gym, we don’t have athletes like that to even simulate what it may be like. My assistant did the best he could to stand on a box and hit balls as hard as he could, but you can only do so much at the time.”

Matters took pride in the way Ladd played and how she contributed to the program over her four years.

“Mallory had a great match,” Matter said. “She was absolutely fearless and she didn’t care that she was 5-6 and they were 6-6. And, they struggled with her — they really did. For a while she was leading the match in kills, so I thought we battled them as hard as we could.

“It was great to be in this moment and compete and Mallory has been a huge part of our program since I arrived in 2018. She has always found her way onto the floor at a whopping 5-6 and she always battled. The best part about it is she is very talented, but her teammates love her, so she always has a smile on her face and she works her ass off and that is all you can ask for in a student-athlete.”

Returning home to coach?

The Raiders made the most of the unique season that was postponed from the fall to a shortened spring schedule, finishing with a 17-2 overall record and a perfect 14-0 mark in Horizon League play, winning the HL regular season championship for the second straight season before capturing their first-ever tournament title to begin April.

 The season of firsts was not over there. Wright State made its second consecutive trip to the NCAA Championship, going on to sweep Samford in the opening round, marking the first NCAA win in both Wright State and Horizon League history.

“I just think we came out really fired up in that game,” Ladd said. “We knew it would be a really good game either way, but we felt really confident that we could get a win, so we came out really firing hard at them and everything was going our way. We had a lot more energy and more confidence in that game, so that’s why I feel like we swept them in three and were successful against them.”

Ladd, a sports science major, will graduate from WSU on May 1. Her next gig might be helping out Clay volleyball coach Carrie Waggoner.

“After that, I’m probably going to move back home to Toledo and figure everything out there. I’ve actually been offered to help coach at my high school so I might do that and then figure out other stuff now that I have more time. Since the season is over, I have to figure out my next step,” Ladd said.

Ladd credits Matters for giving her the incentive to get involved in coaching the game she loves.

“She’s been the transition from when she got to Wright State. She has so many accomplishments. She literally took us from the lowest RPI team to a top 25 in the country, so I can’t say enough about her. She has done a lot for me. She took a huge chance on me. Not many people would take a chance on a 5-6 outside hitter, but she threw me in the games and saw what I could do and really had full faith in me in the games. She had a lot of trust in me,” Ladd said. 

“Obviously, this season, we are around each other every day. She is a person I am very close to and she has me very interested in coaching because our whole team has a bunch of fun. I don’t know a lot of other college coaches who can have a relationship like she has with her players. She is young, but she is relatable to all of us. I think that is what makes her so successful.”

Ladd adds that she will miss the WSU campus and volleyball program.

“We always have fun here. Wright State volleyball I feel like is a fun program,” Ladd said.  “People around campus have noticed and other teams are like, ‘Wow, you guys are just so much fun and always laughing.’ I feel like that is why we are always so successful. In serious times, you take them seriously, but it’s just a game and we have fun and we laugh.” 

At the NCAA Tournament, for the first time this season Ladd's parents got to watch her play in person.

“Both of my parents went. Just about everyone on the team’s parents went, which was so nice. They were so excited because it was the first time, they could see us all season. It felt really great to have them back there again and they were cheering really loud,” Ladd said.

Matters added, “We were allotted a certain number of tickets, so I think only two of the players’ parents could not make the trip, but the other ones did. We had a nice little group, and it was nice to see the green and gold in the stands, cheering and chants and all of those things.”

(— includes material from WSU SID press releases and NCAA press conference)