Athlete Of The Week: Rory Shortis

HARWICH – Before every single point, Monomoy senior Rory Shortis gives herself an internal pep talk.

The gist is all high-octane, pedal-to-the-metal. She may be standing on the hardwood of the volleyball court, but Shortis talks to herself like she’s about to burn rubber from the driver’s seat of a race car.

“I say in my head, ‘Foot on the gas, Rory. Floor it through the fences,’ and it kind of gets my adrenaline going,” Shortis said. “It gets me excited.”

The inner monologue works, firing Shortis up to get another kill for a team that, at 6-2, has the best record and most wins in Monomoy history.

Head coach Lindsey Hooper helped craft the messaging, and she sees it in Shortis during every point — a manifestation of going above and beyond in her duties as a captain.

“She's just riling them up,” Hooper said. “She is the leader out there for sure.”

Shortis, at middle blocker, has the type of short-term memory that coaches love. If she makes a mistake, it’s on to the next play.

“She's so coachable,” Hooper said. “She'll make a mistake and then she'll be like, ‘OK, what do I need to do to fix it?’ and then the next play, she'll make the correction and typically nine times out of 10 get the point.”

That’s only on the court, where the Sharks have played at a level previously unheard of for volleyball at Monomoy until this year (the team won their record sixth game Monday on Shortis’ birthday).

Off the court, Shortis continues as a leader. From her fellow varsity teammates on down to the freshman team (mostly made up, in actuality, of eighth graders), Shortis makes every player feel welcome, according to Hooper.

“She's fantastic,” Hooper said. “She's such a leader. She makes sure that all the girls feel important, that they all feel like they belong.”