State Gazette Female Co-Athletes of the Year for Dyer County High School: Lady Choctaws Rylee Key and Emma Wray

Dyer County Lady Choctaws Rylee Key (left) and Emma Wray (right) have been named the State Gazette Female Co-Athletes of the Year for Dyer County High School. Both Key and Wray played important roles for the Lady Choctaws during TSSAA State Tournament runs in volleyball and softball.

Photo/Jason Peevyhouse

By JASON PEEVYHOUSE

jpeevyhouse@stategazette.com

With two worthy candidates for an honor who excelled in both sports they played during the previous season, Lady Choctaw sophomores Rylee Key and Emma Wray have been named the State Gazette Female Co-Athletes of the Year for Dyer County High School for this past school athletic year.

Both Key and Wray played two sports and were starters on both state tournament volleyball and softball teams. Dyer County's Shanna O'Bright coached both athletes during the past school year.

Rylee Key

After suffering an injury early in the 2023 volleyball season, Key returned to the court just in time for the postseason and made an immediate impact on the Lady Choctaw game.

“Her presence in the front row is intimidating,” O'Bright said. “She swings well and she blocks well.

“She is a force to be reckoned with. I know she missed some during her sophomore season but she made up for it in the end.”

After a strong finish to the injury-shortened season, O'Bright said she expects Key to do some big things this upcoming season.

Part of the reason for this feeling could be because of how she impacted both sides of volleyball games on the front row during her time on the court as a sophomore.

“Offensively and defensively, she dominates up there,” the Lady Choctaw head coach said. “She went down early in August and everyone was kind of like 'oh no'.

“But, we had some girls step up and, when we got to the postseason, 'oh great, we've done all of this and now we get Rylee back'.”

O'Bright pointed out even during the short time she had on the court as a sophomore, Key's confidence improved the most.

“Just being able to work with the set and adjust to the ball, I think that's going to continue to get better all the time,” O'Bright added.

Moving into the spring, following a strong freshman season the year before, Key moved into her sophomore year and helped lead the Lady Choctaws back to the TSSAA Class AAA State Tournament for the third time in four years.

“She was a solid defensive player over at first base,” O'Bright explained. “She has a great big bat. She is getting smarter and smarter at the plate about which pitches to swing at and which pitches not to swing at.”

The ladder of those points has an increased importance as Key stands 6-2, making for a long strike zone.

“She has to make a lot of adjustments,” O'Bright added. “And, she is getting smarter with every at bat.”

Key was also one half of a two-pitcher attack which helped the Lady Choctaws make it back to Murfreesboro.

“On the mound, I look for her junior season to be her best one yet,” O'Bright said. “She did a great job and threw a lot of innings for us this year. She created a lot of outs and did what needed to be done.

“She's already working on her pitching when we have some free time to get ready for her junior year.”

O'Bright describes Key as a competitor.

“She loves the games and she's just a really fun kid to coach,” O'Bright said. “I'm always an advocate of multi-sport athletes. That's the nature of my job.

“I think there's a lot of crossover between volleyball and softball. You have a lot of kids that play both. It helps her be just a fierce competitor.”

Emma Wray

A two-year starter on the softball field, Wray also made an impact on the Lady Choctaw volleyball team this past fall.

“How she stepped up from her freshman year to her sophomore year is incredible,” O'Bright said of Wray. “She played some front row on the outside position where you're getting a lot of balls set to you.

“I think my favorite thing about Emma is watching her grow and being able to shake off mistakes.”

O'Bright explained this was a big step for the sophomore as Wray can be her own toughest critic.

“She's her own worst enemy because she does not like to mess up,” the Lady Choctaw head coach said. “No athlete does. But, she is getting better and better at being able to contribute and, if she does make a mistake, being able to shake it off.”

This mentality also lends itself well to her position in softball. For the past two seasons, Wray has been the starting catcher for the Lady Choctaw softball team.

“I can honestly tell you that I don't think I have ever had to get onto Emma because Emma's so hard on herself,” O'Bright explained. “Emma is so hard on herself. She wants to be the best at what she does.

“She works so hard to get there. She's a fun kid to coach.”

There's one thing about Wray which has impressed her head coach more than anything else.

“Even as a sophomore – more so on the softball field than volleyball – taking over a leadership role,” O'Bright said. “She definitely did that.

“I told her she was the only one who can see the whole field so she kind of has to run things out there. She really did that.”

At the plate, Wray was one of the top offensive players on the team this past spring.

“Her and Rylee are key components to our offense on the softball field and on the volleyball court,” O'Bright added. “You figure, Emma caught just about every inning we had last year. She's a baller.

“They're both great kids and they both have so much to add to either game. It's fun to work with them.”