As Green Hope Varsity Volleyball enters playoffs hoping to win a fifth state championship, freshman Chloe Burbage continues to lead the offense and elevate the team’s success one set at a time. She is one of the best players in the country, with 200 more assists than any other freshman in North Carolina and the 5th most assists of any freshman in the country. The GH Falcon recently sat down with Burbage to inquire about her career in volleyball and the steps she took to get her where she is today.
Burbage began her volleyball early, participating in developmental programs that helped her build a fundamental skill set. “I started playing volleyball when I was eight years old at a youth Academy lesson at NC [Volleyball] Academy,” she shared. After mastering the basics, Burbage began her club journey at 9 by joining her first travel team, 11 Diamond. Her continuance in the sport from an early age has allowed her multiple opportunities for recognition, both locally and nationally. “I have received a few recognitions by the Red Hat games,” Chloe explained, which is a national recruiter known for recognizing players with extortionate talent. “I’ve also received a few from middle school volleyball.”
Despite her abundance of natural talent, Burbage wouldn’t have gotten to her current level of play without constant practice. During the school season, practice includes a combination of film and skills training multiple times a week. “After school, we start practice at about two thirty and we practice until 4:30,” she shared. “Sometimes we’ll have film for 30 minutes after practice.” Her efforts continue into club season, allowing her to continuously advance as a player.
“It depends on the season, but normally we have practices on Mondays and Wednesdays from four to nine. On the weekends, I’ll have a team practice on Sunday, and on Saturday, I’ll have an hour of practice,” Burbage shared.
Burbage’s overall achievement in the sport is attributed just as much to her support system as it is to her abundant dedication and practice. Chloe’s older sister, Kayla Burbage, played volleyball at the University of Missouri before transferring to play at the University of Illinois. Kayla contributes a big part to Chloe’s support system and has proven to be a critical aspect of her overall happiness and success during her volleyball career. “She really helps me whenever I’m going through a troubled time because she’s been through it,” she shared. “She started volleyball later than I did, she started whenever she was about 15 and still ended up getting to a very good spot in her career, so I really look up to that and I can always go to her for advice.”
As for her future, Burbage hopes to follow in her sister’s footsteps and play volleyball in college. “My goals are to just find a school that fits me academically and in volleyball. The University of Florida has been my dream school since I was younger. Same with Stanford. I’m looking to graduate early, so hopefully that’ll help me with that.”
Even as a freshman, Burbage has helped lead her team to a successful season through her strategic control of its offense. “It’s been pretty fun. I think at first it was challenging because I was the youngest one on the team and I was just kind of still learning everybody and a lot of the people had played together before, so it took me a little bit to adapt, but now I just learned to play up their level, no matter if they’re older than me,” she shared. “My goals are to help my team focus on one game at a time and not have them all stress out about who we have to play next in the playoff rounds. If anything, just focus on one game at a time.”
As the Falcons start their playoff run, they will be led in the middle by the conference leaders in assists ready to lead the team to a state championship.
