One Final Run: Parkview’s Laurel Cassidy Plans To Enjoy Final Trip to State Playoffs

by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

There will be a time and place when Parkview Baptist standout Laurel Cassidy will reflect on it all.

The past 5 ½ years of her life reached a crescendo last Wednesday when the Lady Eagles held senior day for Cassidy, Sela Alwood, Riley Hauck, and Ava LeBlanc.

Each player had a career’s worth of photos and keepsakes on billboards staged in the lobby of Parkview Baptist’s gym leading toward the court where the Lady Eagles faced Division II Lakeshore in the regular season finale for both teams.

Life-sized posters of each player hung over the stage on the gym’s far end, and each player posed for pictures with their families and received roses before the start of the match.

“I try to push that stuff away to the end of the season when I can finally be emotional about it,” Cassidy said. “I’m just thankful. I was so grateful to play and be overwhelmed by everyone and all of the things that were here for me. It was the best six years ever.”

The 5-foot-8 Cassidy, an LSU commitment, tried to mask her disappointment in her final regular season match that started with plenty of promise, winning the first two sets of the match 25-15 and 25-20.

The Lady Eagles, playing without starting setter Aadyn Polk, couldn’t maintain their edge throughout and wound up dropping the final three sets – 25-14, 25-19, 15-10 – and the match heading into the state playoffs. 

Fifth-seeded Parkview Baptist (22-11) opens play in the Division III bracket at home against No. 28 seed De La Salle at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

“I don’t know why we couldn’t pull it out, but there’s a reason for it,” Cassidy said of senior night. “We learned something important the last game without Aadyn. I think we’ll be fine. I know God’s hand is on us at all times. We’re a very God-driven team. We pray before every game and as long as we’re trusting in HIM and not try to do our own things, we’ll be good.”

PBS volleyball coach Allison Leake has been around for the past four years and developed a deep admiration of Cassidy, her leadership, and her competitive nature. 

Leake was an assistant to Becky Madden for two years before taking over for Madden in 2023 when Cassidy was already an established cornerstone. Not only did she exhibit versatility, but her unselfishness was the true definition of a team player, adding outside hitting duties and setting to her libero role.

“We’ve been so blessed for her to be a part of this,” said Leake, the All-Metro Coach of the Year in 2023. “It’s been such an amazing time to see her journey through playing as libero to hitting, the leadership, her growth, and maturity as a player. Her leadership has been amazing. It’s really been fun to watch her learn about herself, and her as a leader for our teams throughout the years.

“She used to be one where we made sure she was calm because she was the intensity of the team,” Leake said. “As a senior, to see her be the calm of the team, to lead and direct how we need to play, and our intensity on the court has been a lot of fun to watch her play.”

Discovering a Deep Love for the Indoor Game

Cassidy can joke about her path to college when she signs next week with LSU to play indoor volleyball. 

A self-proclaimed cheerleader growing up, she watched her older sister Madison play and was a standout on the volleyball court. 

By the time she turned 10, Cassidy went through her first volleyball tryout and played on a 12U team. 

She’s been a shooting star ever since. 

“I didn’t like it all when I first started playing,” she said of volleyball. “My sister (a senior on Southern Mississippi’s beach volleyball team) played, so I guessed I would play, too. I’m very competitive and after my first season, I loved that part of it. I didn’t like any other sports and chose volleyball and kept after it. It wasn’t about being good, it was about having fun.”

Cassidy began laying a foundation in the game with the intent of graduating to the next level, to play in college. That goal switched to playing beach volleyball where she encountered great success and was content to sign and play in the future.

“My mindset was that I was going to somewhere to play one day,” she said. “Wherever God led me was where I was going to go.”

Cassidy focused on taking the critical steps necessary to realize her vision of playing next-level volleyball whether it had a hard surface or sand.

She became involved in club volleyball where she played nearly year-round both indoor and beach. She began taking her nutrition seriously and began powerlifting, a regiment she maintained in high school. 

“I enjoy it,” Cassidy said. “It’s not a pain. I really like the grind. I think it’s fun. I like seeing my work show on the court. Any time anyone asked me in middle school if I would play in college, the answer was always yes, even as a fifth grader. I never thought twice about it. It was my freshman year when I realized I had to go above and beyond to be good. That I needed to do more.”

Leake first encountered Cassidy during the club season prior to high school and realized her capability. 

“I’ve really been able to watch her grow,” Leake said. “There was a point in time where she was playing beach. That’s what she was going to do. I kept telling her to keep that door open because I could really see her excel even more in the indoor game as a libero. It was awesome to be able to watch her and watch that process.

“I don’t know if she could see herself being an indoor player in college,” Leake said. “She can do it all. She can set and hit. She would be a great beach player, but her defense and the things that she can see brings her to another level indoor as a libero.”

Cassidy was on a fast track to playing a significant role in the future success of Parkview’s program. She got a taste of it as an eighth grader before moving into a full-time role at all-around as a freshman and outside hitter as a sophomore. 

She was named to both the Baton Rouge Advocate’s All-Metro and all-district teams but opted to skip her club season that summer to focus on beach volleyball which had surged to the sport of choice in college.

Not long after her decision, Leake tried to convince Cassidy to attend LSU’s one-day elite camp a day ahead of the team camp in which Parkview Baptist would be participating. 

Sensing Cassidy had so much to offer the indoor game because of her defensive instincts that made her a standout libero, Leake didn’t want to let the opportunity go awry for her budding star.

“She wanted to do beach,” Leake said. “I told the LSU coaches that they needed to look at this kid as a defensive kid. Her mentality is what a libero is. With that type of mentality, that ball’s not hitting the floor. She’s playing a game with you. You want kills and she’s going to prevent it.”

Cassidy said she decided to attend the camp out of respect for Leake and was left blown away by the possibilities. 

“I loved it, I loved the coaches,” Cassidy said of LSU. “I loved the girls. I walked in and it wasn’t even a question … I’m coming here. Everything about beach (volleyball) left my mind. I just knew that this is where I was supposed to be. I had a really good peace about it.  The coaches made it easy for me.”

LSU loved Cassidy right back. 

Then second-year volleyball coach Tonya Johnson and her staff offered Cassidy a scholarship two months after she came to the camp. She narrowed her choices between the Tigers and Georgia State, which offered a Top 25 beach program and decided to remain home on Sept. 29, 2023.

“I stopped talking to a bunch of colleges,” Cassidy said. “This was it and then LSU had my heart. I loved the coaches.”

A Recurring Theme: Switching Positions

Cassidy moved to libero in 2023 and helped Parkview to a 32-8 record and its first state semifinal in five years. She was voted to the LVCA’s All-State team and All-Metro squad for a second time, and was selected as the district’s defensive MVP with 439 digs, 89 assists, 45 service aces, and 23 kills with two blocks.

When it came to piecing together this year’s Parkview team, Leake saw a greater need for Cassidy to bolster the team’s hitting and moved her to outside hitter. 

“At first, I was a little hesitant because I’m going to play libero in college,” Cassiday said. “Why do I need this? It’s not about me, it’s about the team. That’s what I’m going to have to do and I’m going to have to find a way. I have really bad knees in general. I knew that was going to happen during the season and I just pushed through, trusting my teammates, especially Aadyn (Polk). I knew it was all going to work out. I just had to trust the process.

“That’s exactly what I wanted,” Cassidy said of her commitment timeline. “I wanted to be done before school started my junior year. I didn’t want to take any visits. I wanted to be absolutely done because it was a stressful time for me. I was focused on doing it then.”

Leake said Cassidy prepared for her senior season by getting in work over the summer with her club team.

“From coaches that saw her in the summer until now, they said that she’s grown tremendously offensively,” she said. “It’s fun for other people to look at her and, ‘Oh my God’. Her vertical is astounding and what she can see on the other side, the way that she can hit spots because of her beach experience, but she also has a powerful swing. 

“It’s amazing, it’s phenomenal,” she said. “We needed her in this role, and she accepted it. We see her struggling a bit hitting-wise, just because she hasn’t done it a whole lot in the past three years. It’s been fun to watch.”

Cassidy embraced the role of being one of the team’s fiercest hitters one last time before changing her focus to defense at LSU.

“I’m just having fun right now because this will be one of the last times I’m ever going to hit in my life,” she said. “It’s sad because I enjoy it. Any time if miss a ball when I hit, I’m not worried about it because the next one’s going to be better. As long as I’m having fun, I’ll be fine.

“Team camaraderie is so big,” Cassidy said. “I wanted to get everyone together and be a leader. For this year it was staying patient. If they have a mistake, I’m pumping them up. I’ve tried to make a lot of relationships with them one-on-one to help them out in the middle of tough games. I kind of wanted to be the mom of the team. Get everyone together and let them know things are going to be OK. At the end of the day, it’s still a game.”

One Final Playoff Ride

Parkview won 9 of its first 10 matches of the season. The Lady Eagles have been among the state’s top teams in Division III, participating in tournaments at Dutchtown (3-1 finish), St. Joseph’s Academy (3-2), Country Day (2-2), and last week at Episcopal School of Acadiana (2-2).

Her team’s final home game on Oct. 30 against Division II Lakeshore had all of the makings of a fond farewell. 

All of the pregame pomp and pageantry of photos and future keepsakes gave way to the game which Parkview dominated through the first two sets.

Cassidy’s all-out play was on display in the first set with a diving stab of a ball that she kept alive for a kill by Jana Thymes. Her ability to find open space with a push shot resulted in a point and her kill down the line made it 23-13 en route to a 25-15 win.

A kill from the back row tied the second set at 3-3 and after she was blocked, Cassidy rebounded with a kill during the same rally that kept it deadlocked at 5-5.

Cassidy served the next point for a 6-5 lead when play was stopped, and her teammates joined her on the floor to commemorate the 1,500th dig of her career. 

“I didn’t know,” she said. “I served and got the point, and I feel these people. I don’t like it when people come in close to me. I see balloons coming. I’m just thankful. I’m just overjoyed. So many girls and coaches have helped me. It just makes me thankful.”

Junior setter Norah Frank fed Cassidy on six of her nine kills in the set, while another well-timed push to the corner made it 15-15. 

Cassidy added a kill off a late block and her service ace gave the Lady Eagles a 21-16 lead that developed into a 25-20 win.

Lakeshore grabbed the early lead in the third set and withstood five kills from Cassidy to get back into the match with a 25-14 win. The Lady Titans were locked in a 7-7 tie when Cassidy went down with a knee injury that forced her from play for a period of time.

The set was tied at 15, and with Cassidy back in the lineup and delivering another push shot to the middle of the floor, Parkview still couldn’t regain the momentum and dropped the final two sets 25-19 and 15-10.

“It was really fun,” Cassidy said of the team’s senior night. “I had a good time other than the last three sets which didn’t go our way. I was proud of the first two sets without Aayden who is a big part of the team. She’s a calming force on floor and we needed.”

The state playoffs will serve as Cassidy’s final run in a Parkview uniform. The Eagles can host their first two matches, and a potential rematch is looming in the quarterfinals next week at No. 4 St. Michael the Archangel, a team they defeated for the District 5-III championship on Oct. 22.

“Just enjoy it,” said Cassidy, who was named to the 2024 LHSCA All-Star Game. “Don’t think too hard about it and have fun. We always talk about knowing that God’s plan is perfect. We’re going in HIS peace knowing that he’s there with us as long as we’re having fun and trusting in each other.”