CHILLICOTHE, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — It’s been a different year for IVC volleyball standout Ali Bainter.
Primarily a setter in her career, this season she’s setting, hitting, blocking, moving all over the floor.
“It’s a whole different game this year, I love it,” Bainter said. “To be everywhere instead of just be setter’s spot. It’s been really fun, I love it.”
She helped lead IVC to a third place finish at state last year and hopes to take the Grey Ghosts back to state this fall.
“If you watch her play, she so fast and so smart. She scores from the setter position, the right side, the left front, just about anywhere,” said IVC volleyball coach Troy Webb.
But Bainter isn’t just not “all over the place” when it comes to volleyball. It’s that way in school.
She already has enough hours to graduate from IVC High School. So this school year, she’s taking a full schedule of college classes at Illinois Central College.
“Right now I’m a sophomore in college and then (in May) I’m graduating from high school,” said Bainter. “It’s very strange to go to class with all these older kids, who say, ‘You’re still in high school?'”
Yes, she’s still a high school senior and yet she’s a college sophomore.
“At the end of the (school) year, I’ll have 60 credit hours and I’ll graduate with an Associates Degree,” said Bainter.
And she’s still staying plugged into high school activities. She and some volleyball teammates helped raise $2,000 dollars for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation with a lemonade shake-up stand at school. And she’s the vice president of the senior class.
Even though she’s rarely on IVC’s campus.
“Sometimes they forget I’m part of (council) but I show up for meetings. I’m there,” said Bainter. “It’s weird to be part of student council when I’m not really a student. But I do feel like I’ve made the most of my four years here.”
