Parrish grew up in Corinth-Holders, where she attended middle school before becoming a Spartan at SSS.

Recently she has played for the Triangle Volleyball Club N.C. Elite club team, and at 6 feet tall the left-handed setter has earned her spot on the Indian squad.

Parrish considered attending UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Wilmington, Western Carolina and Washington & Lee, but decided to pursue a degree in elementary education in Salisbury.

“The campus is really pretty and it just felt like home,” Parrish said. “Compared to the other colleges I visited, it was just the one that clicked with me. The girls on the team were great and the coaches made me already feel like a part of the team family.”

Parrish said softball was her favorite sport before she got to high school, but volleyball really claimed her interest. By the time she was a freshman in high school she made the varsity volleyball team. That’s when she began to take the sport more seriously, she said.

The to-be Indian setter received several walk-on offers from notable Division 1-A schools. While at Smithfield-Selma she played nearly every position on the court, finishing her career as an outside hitter.

Parrish was an 11-time letter winner at Smithfield-Selma. She played four years of varsity volleyball and softball and three in basketball.

Parrish points to the Spartans’ trip to the 2008 playoffs as her proudest moment in the sport. “It was something I’d wanted to do since I got to high school and we did it,” she said.

Alli Parrish is the daughter of Ronnie and Cheri Parrish.