Bailey Tabeling knew she was close.

Last Thursday when the Trinity Lutheran volleyball team played Christian Academy, she thought she was about 80 kills away from achieving 1,000 in her career. It turned out she was 81 away.

Tabeling got 16 kills against Christian Academy, and then over the weekend at the Barr-Reeve Invitational, she accumulated 65 total kills across four games and hit 1,000 right on the dot.

“I knew I was going to get it soon,” Tabeling said.

On Thursday before Trinity played Bedford North Lawrence at home, Trinity honored Tabeling hitting that milestone as head coach Faith Wilder-Newland presented the senior with a ball that had her name and achievement on it.

“It feels good,” Tabeling said. “I’ve done this before with basketball, but I think with volleyball, it’s a lot harder to get 1,000 kills.”

In addition to working toward that career mark last week, Tabeling also helped Trinity pick up two wins over the No. 2-ranked team in the state for Class A.

The Cougars first defeated No. 2-ranked Loogootee in three sets at home. The updated rankings were released last Friday, and it ranked Tecumseh as No. 2.

Trinity took on Tecumseh at the Barr-Reeve Invite and won that 25-16, 19-25, 15-12.

“I think it shows we may be young, but we know what we’re doing,” Tabeling said. “Over the weekend, we did some team bonding just to bring everyone together. That was before we played Tecumseh, so just keeping everyone together and working as a team, I think, works more than having a ranking.”

Last year, Trinity advanced to the state finals with Tabeling as a vital part of the offense. After graduating three seniors, Tabeling is taking on an even bigger load this season in her final year, and she has welcomed the challenge.

“I think I’m ready for it,” she said. “I want the ball anyway, so when they set me, I try to do the best I can. I was still pretty focal last year, but this year definitely a little more. I think I’m standing up to it.”

A lot goes into rising above the net during a volleyball match and having enough power and precision to accumulate more than 1,000 kills across a four-year span.

Tabeling explained her process that has allowed her to get to 1,000 career kills and counting.

“When I go up, I kind of just go up and swing. If I get blocked, I get blocked, and I’ll adjust,” she said. “It helps when Carson Bowling is front row because then I watch what the defense is doing there. I’ll see what’s open for her, I’ll tell her that and then I’ll keep that in mind for me and try to execute when I’m up there. It’s a lot of communication, but it’s also just going up and swinging real hard.”