Abington senior Kenya Lucas put her name in the program’s record books by surpassing the 1,000-kill mark in Thursday’s win over Hatboro-Horsham. (Photos provided by Abington volleyball)
ABINGTON 3, HATBORO-HORSHAM 1 (25-11, 25-12, 19-25, 25-22)
Kenya Lucas set a goal for herself. A goal that became even more ambitious when her sophomore season was shortened by the pandemic. The Abington senior wanted to reach the elusive 1,000-kill milestone.
“In eighth grade, I was playing, and we used to come watch the high school girls play,” Lucas said. “Abington made it to playoffs that year and went far, and after seeing that and see how good they were, I was like, ‘I want to be the best that’s come out of Abington. I want to get 1,000 kills.’”
On Thursday night, Lucas achieved that goal in front of family and friends at Hatboro-Horsham. The senior outside needed just seven kills to reach the magical milestone.
“Every year I’ve been here, this has been our biggest rival of all time,” Lucas said of the Hatters. “Not only was it so exciting to beat our rival, but this meant the world to me.
“I have coaches who’ve coached me who coach at Hatboro. There are players on that team I’ve played against, so I was excited to play against these girls that I’ve known almost all the years I’ve been playing volleyball and be able to get my thousand kills while they were there.”
The senior outside hitter finished with 11 kills and eight service aces.
“We were worried that if I was only worried about the seven kills whether it was the first or second set – that I was going to really press and maybe make mistakes, but I said, ‘No, I want to celebrate at seven kills. I got this, we’re going to win, we’re going to have a great game, and I’m going to get my seven kills,’ and it happened,” Lucas said. “It was the most beautiful situation I could have asked for.
“I was actually not in my position. I wasn’t on the outside of the pin, but I was on the right side of the pin. That’s what I’m going to college to play – on the right side of the pin, so I was like, ‘I got this, this is my favorite place to hit from.’ My setter (Mary Carter) is a sophomore, and she gave me a perfect set. They had some pretty big blockers, but I slammed it, and that was my thousandth.”
A four-year varsity player, Lucas – according to her coach – has improved every year.
“Kenya worked super hard,” Marsh said. “The reason she became so effective is because she’s changing speeds now, and she is able to score in multiple ways. It’s just amazing to watch.
“She’s become a great leader. She’s done a lot of things that I’m super proud of.”
Lucas has been playing volleyball since she was nine years old, beginning with clinics at Penn State Abington. Two years later, she joined East Coast Power King of Prussia, and when she was 14, she moved on to East Coast Power Delaware.
“It’s super weird – I have eight brothers and two sisters, and everybody plays basketball, but this is what I wanted to do,” Lucas said. “I love it so much.”
For his part, the Ghosts’ coach is not the least bit surprised by Lucas' success.
“I knew Kenya was special when I first saw her,” Marsh said. “One was because of her work ethic, and two, she’s extremely gifted and is a perfectionist. She always wants to be better, so we knew she would get better every year, and she really did.
“I don’t even know if anyone’s ever gotten a thousand kills at Abington. We’ve only had the program since 1990, and she’s probably the first. She really went after it. It was a personal goal of hers. We’re super, super proud of her. I’m privileged to coach her.”
Carter finished the night with 14 assists, and Sasha Moody added 10 kills.
Abington (11-2, 5-2 SOL) will host Upper Dublin on Monday, and Hatboro-Horsham (3-7, 3-5) will host Boyertown in a non-league match Friday.
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