Bainbridge’s Holley McFadden has been spiking down the top competition this summer during the club volleyball season.

The 6-foot-3 junior at Bainbridge High School started playing volleyball in sixth grade with the BI Parks and Recreation Department. She moved to the club scene in Kitsap County the following year before her season was cut short by COVID. Shortly after, McFadden began to sprout. “In eighth grade, they needed more people for the oldest team so they put me on the 17-year-old team,” she said.

The following year she was asked to go to Seattle and was close with all of those girls so she decided to stay one more year then ended at North Pacific Juniors Volleyball Club. This spring and summer she’s had enormous success with NPJ Seattle 16 National.

“The entire year we were the top seed,” McFadden said. “The tournament right before regionals was our worst tournament. One of our big hitters had an off day, and we finished third. Once we reached regionals, we were the number-one seed and didn’t drop a set overall.”

Her team won each set by an average of 10 points through 10 sets. Since the squad finished first, it was invited to the Girls Nationals Junior Championships in Chicago. The NPJ Seattle 16 National team finished 45th in the country after finishing 5-5 there.

McFadden’s mother, Stacey, added: “They had one of the worst tournaments but it was fun. Our passing was horrible, and we were missing serves. It wasn’t one thing, it was a lot of little things. They couldn’t finish a three-set game.” McFadden’s squad led in several matches before falling apart in the final set.

McFadden missed a lot of her sophomore season at BHS because of an ankle sprain. “I worked on my serve a lot when my ankle was hurt because I couldn’t jump or run on it,” she said. “It wasn’t that long of a time. It was about two months of doing some exercises.”

McFadden returned to volleyball when the Seattle team was hosting tryouts last season. Her expectations were low since she had not played in months. “At the beginning of the year, I sucked a lot but I got a lot better. Now I add a lot to the team and have grown a lot.”

Once McFadden felt comfortable, she helped push NPJ Seattle from fourth to first in the regional rankings. “When I got a good hit or block on someone, that kept me going,” she said. “It holds me together.”

In addition, McFadden learned about fitting in as a role player. “For club, we have two really good outside hitters so they needed me as a middle to be a good block,” McFadden said. “I block a lot, get a lot of hits down the middle but not be the star hitter on the team. I’m playing outside in high school so I can get the ball more and be in charge offensively.”

Her mom added: “The pool is much bigger over there. There are eight Holleys instead of one. The level of play, reps and tournaments you get is much higher.”

McFadden said, “It was hard at first because I was not used to it but it’s fun competing over there. It brings my level of play up.”

As the fall season is set to start Sept. 5 against Gig Harbor, McFadden plans to use her national experience to push Bainbridge deep into the postseason. “I hope we can make it back to state,” McFadden said. “Our biggest challenge will be North Kitsap but we have a chance with them because we have a balance between positions.”

Once McFadden graduates, her goal is to continue playing at a Division I school. “I definitely want to play in college,” she said. “I’m talking to a bunch of places, and I want to go wherever fits me the best.”