Notre Dame, Ind.
Cailey Dockery graduated from Murphy High School in 2022 and since then has taken her volleyball skills to South Bend, Ind., where she plays Division 1 volleyball for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Volleyball is a major part of her life, but Dockery is more than just that. She has strong beliefs, which can be seen through winning the Faith Award for the Notre Dame volleyball program at the end of 2023-24 school year. She is also majoring in neuroscience and minoring in digital marketing, a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Team and graduated from Murphy magna cum laude.
Before making it to the grand stage that is DI sports, she began playing recreational league volleyball on the team her mother, Tina Dockery, coached. Her mom played in college and is also a former varsity volleyball coach at Murphy High.
“When I was like 10 or 11, I told my mom, ‘What if I went and played in college?’ I wasn’t thinking DI or anything. I just was like, I love this sport,” Dockery said.
Dancing to the court
“So as soon as she heard those words, she was like, ‘OK, we’re gonna get her to the best, we’re gonna do this research.’
“She made so many sacrifices to be able to take me to this volleyball club in Atlanta called A5, which is the best training, the best opportunities for me. She was just like the second she heard the words that I wanted to pursue something, she just set aside everything else, and really allowed me to be able to do that and pursue my dream.”
Growing up, Dockery also played flag football, horse riding, soccer and danced. The latter was a big help.
Dockery said she found herself doing pirouettes on the court trying to get the ball and told herself, “I probably shouldn’t do that.” She added that doing dance helped her with balance and posture when translating her dance skills to the volleyball court.
“I have the utmost respect for dancers because I think they have some of the hardest workouts and just discipline that I’ve ever seen. It was definitely a good balance for volleyball,” Dockery said.
While playing volleyball for the Lady Bulldogs, Dockery led Murphy to a semifinals appearance, was All-Smoky Mountain Conference as a senior and lettered in two sports. She also played club volleyball for A5, which helped prepare her transition to DI.
“They had us working out all the time. We were definitely practicing all the time and practicing on the weekends, too, so they kind of require that dedication of time that you would see in the college atmosphere except obviously not as extensive,” Dockery said.
“It just gives you an idea of how to manage your time with school, work and everything else, and traveling on the weekends for tournaments. So I would say that was one of the biggest adaptations that helped me was just the time management skills.”
She added that one of the biggest things was the servicing. Receiving serves in college, compared to high school and club volleyball, was one of the biggest changes because there is more of a focus on the weight room in college than at the high school level.
Academics and faith
Dockery said at Notre Dame, academics are just as important as athletics. To balance volleyball and her coursework, she stays in contact with her professors and focuses on time management.
“A lot of [professors] are very cool and understanding of the toll that it takes on your life, and then also just not having your entire identity being based on your grades or your performance on the court, learning how to compartmentalize between when you’re doing something, when you’re doing something else,” Dockery said.
“So that you’re not burning the candle at both ends, and then also taking the time to have your own personal identity and personal life. So for me, that’s faith a lot of times and spending time in the Word to help balance out the stress of just wanting to always succeed, and be like the best.”
Her faith is an important part in her life. Dockery said she can rely on it to help her.
“It’s so important because throughout these years, I’d say the workload with my life has been pretty similar, like it’s always been tough. I’ve always held myself to a very busy schedule and a regimen, but with faith, I feel like it makes me feel more fulfilled, like it doesn’t matter how many activities I do throughout the day,” Dockery said.
“If I didn’t have faith to rely on, I feel like I would just be searching for something else and just bombarding my life even more and I still wouldn’t find any fulfillment out of that. So I think faith is just something that balances out my life so well, and then gives me a purpose.”
‘Fulfilled in right space’
Outside of volleyball, Dockery loves to travel. She spent the majority of her summer in Europe visiting countries like France and Switzerland.
When it comes to what she will do after college, she is trying to keep her path as wide as possible.
“I consider myself a lucky person because I’ve just been given such a passion for life and I find a lot of things interesting and I know some people just are dead set. They know what they want and I think normally that would freak people out,” Dockery said.
“But for me, I feel like I’m gonna feel fulfilled In the right space, wherever I am, and I’ll find some positive way to look at it or find fulfillment from whatever comes my way. So I’m very OK with not having a dead-set plan. Just whatever arises, I’m like, ‘this is the opportunity that I’m gonna take and if it doesn’t work out, I’ll try something else.’ ”
She said being from Murphy has helped give her a strong work ethic. She knows opportunities to play DI sports are few and far between for people in small towns.
“Knowing that I am special for getting this sort of opportunity, and so I need to work my butt off every day to prove that I deserve it and to make the most out of it, because it’s not because of me that I did all this,” Dockery said. “It’s because of God and everything just happened to work out perfectly. … But it’s not a me thing. It was definitely a God thing that put me where I needed to be.”
Inspiring and impressive
She said one of her biggest inspirations is her mom because she helped instill a strong work ethic in her.
“She’s given me the tools that I need to succeed, and I really look up to her because no matter how much I complain to her and got mad at her whenever I was growing up, she stayed on me and she made sure that I was always giving my best, so she really ingrained in me to have a work ethic and to do my best every single day,” She said.
She added that her teammates and coaches at Notre Dame inspire her because they are impressive people who have purpose and interesting stories.
To prepare for the upcoming volleyball season, she said she did a lot of running in Europe while on vacation and spent some time in Atlanta at A5. Notre Dame volleyball kicks off their season with an exhibition match Wednesday, Aug. 21, at home against Michigan State. Then they head to Santa Clara, Calif., for two games.
Dockery’s advice to up-and-coming athletes who aspire to play at the highest level is: “Dedicate the time that you need. If you think that you’re dedicating enough time, you’re not. Know that there’s always someone that’s working harder than you, so that should keep you holding yourself accountable and going after what you really want.
“Also with the recruiting process, knock down coaches doors, like email the heck out of them. Reach out to them, send film, do as much as possible to get your name out there because that’s gonna help you get set with the college that’s right for you.
Cailey is the daughter of Chris and Tina Dockery and has one brother, Landon.