CHS volleyball players commit to DI collegiate programs

Cleveland High School volleyball players Ceci Vance and Kelsey Heffner have committed to play volleyball collegiately next fall. Vance has committed to play volleyball at Arizona State University, and Heffner has committed to play volleyball at Sacramento State.

“I’m feeling very relieved after my commitment. I love the coaches, the athletes and overall, there were no red flags,” Heffner said. “My dad has been my biggest supporter since day one, and I would be nowhere close to where I am today without him."

This past season, Heffner was a first-team All-District selection and a second team All-state selection.

“I want to thank my parents for always guiding me to be my best self. I will forever be grateful to the Albuquerque Rebels Volleyball Club for accepting me into the club and giving me the confidence at 12 years old to 'swing at the back wall' and just go for it," Vance said. "I would like to thank a few people that have helped me physically and mentally; Liz Albertson at The Athletes Playground, Brad at Maestas Chiropractic, Aleeza Maya, and finally Amanda Jones with Armour Mental Performance.”

Vance also says that family connections were one of the factors in the decision as well.

“I am feeling excited for the future and looking forward to training at the next level. The ASU staff really made me feel welcome and I felt like they were 'all in' with me. ASU had a competitive team culture, a coaching staff that I knew would push me and care about me. I knew it was a place I could be happy,” Vance said.

While at RRHS, Vance was a first-team All-State selection in 2021 and a second-team All-State selection in 2022 as an outside hitter.

Both CHS standouts will join Division I programs and, of course, will still have their eyes set on securing a state championship for CHS.

“We’ve been to two team camps this summer and won both of them, only dropping one set at the Northern Colorado camp. I feel like we are playing at such a high level already and considering it’s still preseason, without a doubt we will continue to improve,” Heffner said.

On top of CHS only dropping one set through two camps, they also beat La Cueva twice, and the two powerhouse programs will meet again Sept. 3 at Cleveland for a rematch.

“We can't let up, though. We have to keep training and keep getting better over the next few months,” Vance said.