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Livaudais’ quiet leadership

Jamie Livaudais isn’t an outspoked player, but her leadership by example has paid major dividends on the court. photo by Justin Limoges
Jamie Livaudais isn’t an outspoked player, but her leadership by example has paid major dividends on the court.
photo by Justin Limoges

Jamie Livaudais has made her mark on the Bradley volleyball team during her time in Peoria. The 6’1” junior from Fenton, Missouri, has been one of the Braves’ best outside hitters, accumulating 573 kills throughout her career.

At a young age, Livaudais began to play the game she’d eventually fall in love with. From that point on, she knew she wanted to play at the college level.

“I decided to try it out in third grade,” Livaudais said. “I got into [recreational] volleyball and loved it ever since … freshman year [of high school] is when recruiting starts, and I started talking to coaches around then with my dad helping me out along with my coaches.”

After playing in high school, Livaudais received offers from Bradley and Montana University, but ultimately decided to become a Brave.

“Bradley just felt a lot more like home,” Livaudais said. “My parents could visit a lot more, and I like the atmosphere a lot more with the smaller school.”

As a player who has seen her fair share of rough seasons, Livaudais has been through the struggles of a two-win season and a six-win season. This year has already seen better results with Bradley bringing in new head coach Carol Price-Torok along with an abundance of younger and talented players.

“I definitely see a change in the direction this team is going,” Livaudais said. “[Price-Torok] is pushing us to become better mentally and physically. Not that we have the wins to show for it, but I’ve definitely seen a change.”

The first day that Price-Torok took over as head coach for the volleyball team, she noticed that Livaudais had a certain quality she was impressed by.

“She works really hard,” Price-Torok said. “She’s really quiet, so she has that mysterious, ‘What are you going to get out of her?’ But she comes in day-in and day-out and works … Don’t let the quietness fool you for not being competitive or taking things for granted. She really is processing what we’re telling her and really working hard every single day to be someone who just hits hard.”

Livaudais is one of the few juniors on the team, so she is expected to be a leader for a team that is steadily improving. Price-Torok knows Livaudias will be someone they can count on through the rest of this year and next season.

“She’s going to be one of those people that leads by example,” Price-Torok said. “She’s going to lead by her play and what she’s doing, and let people know that we can count on her from an offensive standpoint.”

As the 2016 volleyball season comes to an end, no matter what happens in the last five matches, Livaudais will experience the most wins she’s seen as a member of the Bradley team. And next year, there’s hope the win total will rise again.

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