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The Times Athlete of the Week: Earlville girls volleyball’s Payton Actis · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  The Times Athlete of the Week, Earlville's Peyton Actus. This
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  article is being Red by an automated voice, brought to you by
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  Everlit. Earlville Girls volleyball player Peyton Actis, who played a featured role
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  in the Red Raiders three-set victory over host Somanok with 14 assists
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  in the Little Ten Conference victory, is the Times Athlete of the
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  Week, sponsored by Saucu and Grassers Plumbing and Heating Inc. She received
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  141 of 301 votes cast in an online ballot. Other nominees included
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  runner-up Wes Weatherford, Ottawa Football, Anna Herp, Serena Girls Volleyball, and Finley
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  Texas, Sandwich Boys Golf. Weekly ballots go online Mondays and are accessible
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  via Facebook, The Times Sports and Twitter at jPedalty, with voting going
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  through midday Wednesday. Here is uh Kanda with this week's winner. Do
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  you have any nicknames? Actis. My family likes to call me baby,
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  as a joke for my little brother, and recently the girls on
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  the team have been calling me Shuggy. How old were you when
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  you started playing volleyball and what got you into the sport? Actis.
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  I was 12 when I started playing volleyball. What got me into
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  the sport was definitely watching Nebraska University volleyball. Talk a little about
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  the role of a setter on a volleyball team. What do you
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  see as your job on the court? Actis. I view the setter
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  role on a volleyball team as someone who is in a place
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  of leadership. My job on the court is to make the best
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  decisions to help my team succeed. Whether that's dumping, setting, or calling
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  for help, I strive to always
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  be the teammate who is uplifting and supportive, even when we're down.
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  I remind my team, as well as myself, that volleyball is a
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  game of mistakes. What are a few of your favorite gyms you've
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  had the chance to play in over the years? Actus. The first
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  one will always be my home court at Earlville. The second would
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  be playing at Navy Pier in Chicago. What movie would you say
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  you've seen more than any other? About how many times? Actis. I've
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  seen Pitch Perfect the most. I can recite every word. I probably
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  watched it close to fifty times. Which of your
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  teammates cracks you up the most? Actus, Olivia McCanless, she's always making
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  me laugh, even when we're having a serious moment on the court.
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  She always knows how to bring a smile to everyone's face. If
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  you could see any musical artist in any venue, all expenses paid,
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  who would you see and where? Actus. Rihanna at Tinley Park. You
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  and your teammates are going out for dinner to celebrate a big
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  win. Where are you going and what are you ordering? Actus! My
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  team will be the first to tell you that we're definitely going
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  to Chick fil A, even if our bus driver, Mr. Real, doesn't
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  want to take us. I'll be ordering a plain chicken sandwich with
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  waffle fries. What goals does the team have for this season and
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  what will it take to achieve them? Actis. Our team has set
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  a goal to finish in the top three in the Little Ten
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  Conference, placed in the top two at one of our tournaments, and
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  overall continue to have fun and support each other as a team.
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  We have a very fun group. As a team, we are all
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  individually working on our mindsets. We all feel volleyball is 90 mental
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  and 10 physical. We sometimes get in our heads and get into
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  slumps in the middle of games. Something that we are continuing to
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  work on is picking our heads up, getting ready for the next
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  ball, and shaking off what just happened. When we succeed at that,
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  we will succeed at every goal. Is there something about you that
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  people who only know you through sports might find surprising? Actis. I
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  don't drink any soda or pop. Do you have any plans for
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  life after high school? Do they involve sports? Actis. After graduating, I
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  plan to attend Wabansi Community College and play volleyball there. After that,
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  I'll be headed off to a four-year university to major in nursing.