Portsmouth High senior sits atop state’s volleyball elite

Morgan Casey named Gatorade R.I. Player of the Year

Posted 1/16/23

PORTSMOUTH — Morgan Casey, the 6-foot-tall senior middle hitter who led the Portsmouth Patriots to a 13-7 record and a berth in the Division 1A semifinals this past season, has been named …

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Portsmouth High senior sits atop state’s volleyball elite

Morgan Casey named Gatorade R.I. Player of the Year

Posted

PORTSMOUTH — Morgan Casey, the 6-foot-tall senior middle hitter who led the Portsmouth Patriots to a 13-7 record and a berth in the Division 1A semifinals this past season, has been named the 2022-23 Gatorade Rhode Island Volleyball Player of the Year. 

The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Casey as Rhode Island’s best high school volleyball player. She’s the first Gatorade Rhode Island Volleyball Player of the Year to be chosen from PHS.

Casey recorded 197 kills to go with 43 blocks, 62 digs and 30 aces, posting a .394 hitting percentage and .491 kill percentage on the attack. She was a First-Team All-State by the Rhode Island Volleyball Coaches Association and First-Team All-Division 1A selection and was named to the 1A All-Tournament Team.

Casey has volunteered locally on behalf of Special Olympics, working one-on-one with athletes, including her uncle, a 20-year Special Olympics veteran, to prepare them for their respective competitions. She also has donated her time to the James L. Maher Center, which employs adults with disabilities and helps them become more independent in addition to serving as a counselor for youth basketball camps in Portsmouth. 

“Morgan is a very strong player in the front row — great leaping and blocking ability and lateral movement,” said West Warwick High School head coach Josh Malloy. “She affects opponents’ swings out of the middle and on the outside. Smart player who can really put a ball down on a good set.”

Casey has maintained a 4.19 weighted GPA in the classroom. She has signed a national letter of intent to compete in track and field on scholarship at Penn State University this fall.

The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. 

Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award to be announced in January, Casey joins an elite alumni association of state award-winners, including Lexi Sun (2016-17, Santa Fe Christian School, Calif.), Jordan Larson (2004-05, Logan View High School, Neb.), Foluke Akinradewo (2004-05, St. Thomas High School, Fla.) and April Ross (1999-00, Newport Harbor High School, Calif.).

Casey joins recent Gatorade Rhode Island Volleyball Players of the Year Abby Ryno (2021-22, North Kingstown High School), Lauren Milani (2020-21, Cranston East High School), Keri Spitler (2019-20, North Kingstown High School), and Maile Somera (2018-19, Barrington High School), among the state’s list of former award winners.

To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, visit playeroftheyear.gatorade.com.

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.