Friends led Meis to success in volleyball

Leigh Meis is a well known Baldwin substitute teacher who loves math. Unknown to many students, however, Meis is a Baldwin alum and former volleyball player. 

Meis played volleyball from seventh grade through her college years, but she initially had only joined the sport because her friends decided to play it. 

“At first I joined just to be with my friends and to have fun, but after playing volleyball for about a year, I fell in love with the sport,” Meis said. 

Meis had played softball and basketball in community leagues, but dropped them for volleyball during high school. 

“I just wanted to focus mainly on volleyball throughout high school and college,” Meis said. “I liked the fact that volleyball was a very team-oriented game. I could work on my individual skills and then bring it together as a team. It also wasn’t as aggressive as basketball.”

Meis also recalled that volleyball initially was challenging for her to learn, as she had only a little background in the sport. 

“None of my family members had ever played volleyball,” Meis said. “So learning all of the rules and skills for the very first time was challenging, but I think I caught on pretty quickly,” Meis said. 

Balancing academics and athletics was demanding — both physically and mentally, she said. 

“From conditioning in the weight room to setting enough time aside after practice for homework, it was a challenge,” Meis said. “But you figure it out quickly. If that’s what you want to do, you find a way to do it.”

Balancing her personal life with her athletic one was difficult on the day of her Senior Rec dance, she said. 

“The practice we did in the morning wasn’t good enough that day, so we had to come back and practice again,” Meis said. “I ended up having half an hour to get dressed for the dance.”

Meis is thankful for her coach, Paul Hindes, a long-time teacher and coach at Baldwin, who was strict but also caring at the same time. 

“He always used to make us write our goals down,” Meis said. “We had to set goals with a timeline of what we’re trying to achieve, and I still did it in my head as I went through college.” 

Meis made it to varsity, and her team came in second in both WPIALs and state in her junior and senior years. 

“Obviously at first we were a bit disappointed because we didn’t win the gold medal,” Meis said. “But when I look back and I say to myself, `I had four silver medals – two WPIAL and two state,’ that’s pretty impressive.”

Meis remembers something her son always says. 

“He said to me that being successful is very simple, but it’s not easy. I think that is very 

true when it comes to sports,” Meis said.