Standout middle blocker for West Orange a star in classroom, too -- Observer Preps

It’s not at all uncommon to see Blake Hollis buried in a book or hard at work on her laptop before a West Orange volleyball game.

Especially for road games, when the varsity players have to wait through the freshmen and junior-varsity games, that time can be a crucial window within which to get things done.

After all, when you’re a senior middle blocker for a nationally ranked volleyball team, a standout student with a 4.6 GPA who can fluently speak Chinese, a tutor at Mathnasium and regularly volunteering at the Boys & Girls Club, every free moment counts.

“I balance it all by putting stuff on my calendar and really focusing on my time management,” said Hollis who, at age 16, is a high-school senior. “I just have a lot of support from my mom and my family. … Whenever I have time to do work or study, I really try to take advantage of it.”

The oldest of four sisters, Hollis has been impressing in the classroom for a decade, but her success on the volleyball court came more recently. Formerly a dedicated basketball player, she picked up volleyball beginning the summer before her sophomore year at Montverde Academy, her previous school.

Within that time, Hollis — who transferred to West Orange as a junior — has picked up the game with ease, capitalizing on a natural athleticism and rounding out an incredibly dynamic attack for the Warriors.

“She’s a freak of an athlete, being able to do what she does,” West Orange head coach Ross Usie said. “We’ve never really had a dominant middle at West Orange, but she’s almost unstoppable.”

Unstoppable on the court and, as Usie has come to learn, perhaps more so off of it.

“Over the years, you find out how smart she is and what she’s able to do off the court — which is pretty amazing,” Usie said.

Hollis is the team leader for West Orange (22-0) in blocks with 57 on the season. She is fourth on the team in kills with 89.

The combination of her success in the two arenas has enabled Hollis to achieve one of her lifelong dreams of attending an elite academic institution for college. Inspired by role models such as her father, who went to Penn, and her uncle, who went to Dartmouth, Hollis said she has always wanted to go to an elite university that “was really cool and had beautiful trees and brick buildings.” Cornell University, where she is committed, surely meets the description.

There, Hollis — who scored a 1440 on her SATs — plans to major in biomedical engineering and minor in both computer science engineering and Chinese. 

The ambitious course load she plans on taking has a purpose, too. Unsure of what she ultimately wants to do for a career, Hollis hopes the path of study — which combines several of her interests — will point her in the right direction and help her discover her passion.

For now, though, life in Ithaca, New York, is still a ways away. 

In the immediate future is the Warriors’ mission to surpass their end point of the past two seasons — the regional finals — and make it to the state semifinals for the first time in program history.

“They’re just a really good group of girls,” Hollis said. “I just really think that we’re so motivated.”