Making the Grade - Bailee Marsh (Lamar Consolidated High School)

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Bailee Marsh was born premature, weighing only 2 pounds 9 ounces roughly 17 years ago. Then she began growing a little, and kept growing.

Today, Bailee Marsh is a full-fledged star student-athlete who picked volleyball as a youngster and got really good at it. Softball was an option, but it seems like there were just too many other options to grab the attention of a 7-year-old on sunny days. 

“I was the kid in the outfield that picked the flowers,” Bailee says.

Bailee has become one of the best players and leaders on the squad. At the position of setter, Bailee was named to the 24-5A All District First Team. She loves volleyball, her coach loves her as a player, and Bailee loves the leadership role that she has earned.

“When I became a setter, that brought the leadership into it and it really taught me how to become strong and more independent, but still be involved in a team,” Bailee says.

“She's been the backbone of this program for years. The setter is your quarterback. She runs the entire offense. She coordinates your players on the court, on the bench, in time outs. She has the pulse of the whole program,” says head girls volleyball coach Kristen Cavallo.

“The person who taught me about leadership was probably my grandma. She raised me when I was younger," Bailee says. "So she taught me how to be disciplined, and then probably Coach Cavallo, too.”

Now Bailee is helping Coach Cavallo with some of the younger players on the squad. That same leadership quality has carried over to the classroom. Bailee is in the Top 4 percent of her class and a member of the National Honor Society.

With that, she knows where she wants to go to school: Texas A&M University. Bailee has a plan once she hits campus.

“My plan is to apply for nursing school, become an RN and then work my way up to be a nurse practitioner and go back to school and get my master's,” Bailee says.

Educational plans in tow, she has proven herself to be more than just a good athlete and student, she’s also artist who has touched the canvas and hearts of her teachers.

“She's just a sweet girl. Her work ethic is really great. You ask her to do something, she does it to the fullest. It's always 110%,” says teacher April Lambert. “As a first year art student, I’ve got to see a lot of her growth in her skill level. So she's also a great artist, too.”

As she prepares to leave Lamar Consolidated High School, she has some lasting memories, many about her volleyball team.

"Just the love for everybody. We were like a family. We were so close, so close. Like we would go outside practice and hang out and just bond and just that would help us on the court and just be closer and work better together as a team," Bailee says.