Samantha Conley is Cartersville High's premier volleyball player because of how she matches the best in her teammates against the weaknesses of their opponents.

That's also why the Lady Hurricane is The Daily Tribune News' Player of the Year in the sport.

Conley, who started volleyball lessons in the fourth grade, was credited with 457 assists and 48 aces while leading her teammates to an 18-15 record that included a march to the GHSA Class AAA Volleyball Elite 8, where the Lady Canes lost to eventual state champion Woodward Academy.

The Lady Cane called her selection a delight: "It's incredibly awesome."

Conley said she began to work on her game at an early age.

"My parents were always playing backyard volleyball," she said. "I watched the way they were hitting the ball hard and watching people try to dig it up to return it. It looked like fun and I wanted to try that."

That was easier said than done, however, as she had to first learn how to handle the fast pace and the velocity on the ball from adults.

She credits that style of play -- particularly the volleys of her brothers -- with teaching her to handle balls that came at breakneck speed.

"Guys hit it a lot harder, normally," she said, "so I just got used to it. My brothers played hard. I had to stand up to them."

Conley said she also developed her skills in organized sports.

"I've been playing with traveling teams since I was in the seventh grade," she said. "Those teams played mostly in the Atlanta area, Birmingham and Chattanooga."

Those years gave her a look at volleyball from several positions.

"I was a middle hitter for a long time," she said. "I only recently began playing setter and from the right side."

She said the right side is easier in some respects.

"You don't have to react as quickly -- you're only blocking one hitter, but that hitter is generally the best on the opponent's team."

She said the setter position requires a lot of quick reaction.

"It's extremely stressful," she said. "It's a lot more work. The team relies on you a lot more."

She said she started playing setter as a junior and grew more comfortable this year.

"My first year, I was playing on team used to a setter and it was like they were always looking for me to do something," she said. "This year, with a brand new team, it felt like everyone looked up to me.

"It was a lot less stressful. Having less stress made it a lot easier to play."

She said was interested in playing the position for some time.

"I'd been wanting to play it since my freshman year, but I was never given the opportunity," she said.

Conley said volleyball isn't all practice and hard work, however.

"I just enjoy playing. I enjoy being with my teammates," she said. "Lately I've had teams that were really fun and that encourages you to play, too."

Scott Busby, head coach, praises her as the best all-around player on her team.

"Her assists are high, but Cartersville's offensive style is quick with her pulling the trigger," he said.

He said Conley is adept at the position.

"In volleyball, everything goes through the setter, just like the quarterback in football," Busby said. "It's a setter's job to distribute the ball to whoever she feels can help the team. She reads other teams defenses and weaknesses, picking who she feels can best exploit those weaknesses.

"She makes probably 90 percent of those decisions in a game and I might make 10 percent."

He said Cartersville was lucky when Conley asked to try out for the position.

"By volunteering for that role, she took herself out of the limelight -- she probably would have been the best middle hitter and rightside player in the county," he said.

It didn't take her long to get the nuances of being the setter down.

"Samantha was a middle hitter for us since the eighth grade," he said. "She'd always wanted to be a setter and when the opportunity arose, she ran with it."

The coach said although she brings a lot of skills to the position, it's probably the intangibles that gave her an edge.

"The best thing about her is her desire to make her team better and her willingness to do whatever it takes to win," he said. "She is always looking for ways to better herself fundamentally. I could never be as hard on her as she is herself. She expects the absolute best from herself."

Just as important, he said, is her leadership role.

"She's a floor leader," he said. "She's also our vocal leader during the game. She is quick to pump someone else up with an encouraging world if she's made a mistake."

He said that is especially important in volleyball.

"There's no time to let your emotions get you down," he said. "She's really quick to pick up the other players and help get them back in the game."