High volleyball IQ leads Lady Jets’ Julia Celani

MADISON – For every good high school athlete to become the best each works tirelessly to master their skills and perform at an elite level. For Julia Celani of James Clemens, the sophomore volleyball player has already established her place among the elite and doing so with what is a “high volleyball IQ,” which she claimed came from her “practice all aspects of the game.”

The soon to be 16-year old has led the Lady Jets in 2025 in all areas of their battles, and going into the post-season play, where the Jets were 26-23, recorded 328 kills, 211 digs, 54 blocks and tossed 48 aces. Her statistics would have been even better if it wasn’t for the fact she missed 11 matches through two tournaments of action due to a left ankle injury, which occurred in a freak accident.

“We were in warmups for a match and I jumped served and another ball came at me and I stepped on it tearing ligaments,” said Celani. “I wore an orthopedic boot for two weeks and then underwent extensive rehabilitation with our team athletic trainer.”

“She is a competitor and all she wants is to score,” said Megan Aldridge, second- year head coach of the Lady Jets. “She has what we call a very high volleyball IQ as she sees both sides of the court at all times and is very smart. She assists other players sort of like a coach. Julia is inventive on the court and is very coachable as she will try anything I ask her to do.”

Aldridge has hit the courts this season with an extremely young team and has been starting five sophomores throughout the 2025 campaign. For Celani, her physical stature of being 5-foot-11 and weighing 130 pounds has its advantages. The outside hitter began playing volleyball at age eight in the Madison recreational leagues and soon moved to club volleyball with the Bama Elite and even played two years of beach volleyball for the United Team where she felt getting vertical out of the sand helped her in doing similar moves on the hard court. She attributes her high IQ in the sport to watching a lot of college volleyball on videos and concentrating on how each player succeeds. She also feels her dedication to the sport and practicing all areas of the necessary skills have added to her mental knowledge of the sport.

Celani tried playing basketball as a four-year old, but she felt she didn’t connect with the sport. This summer while going through conditioning drills with the James Clemens basketball team in an attempt to help prep for the upcoming volleyball season, she chose to again try her talents in basketball and actually made the varsity squad at James Clemens. After considerable consideration of playing basketball, she chose not to do so she could concentrate on the sport she loves and holds dearly in her dedication of what the possibility her volleyball talents can bring her.

“I would love to play Division I volleyball once in college,” added Celani. “As for my studies, I’d like to get into the medical field. I have a dream of maybe being an athletic trainer for a NFL team.”

Midway through her teens, the daughter of Paul and Rachel Celani has already experienced more than most her age. Seven years ago she signed with IMAX, a Nashville modeling agency, and began modeling clothes and even went on a twoweek modeling trip to North Carolina. Her brother, Blake, a 14-year old freshman at James Clemens who plays both football and wrestling for the Jets, also did some modeling and was part of an ad campaign for Dollar General.

Celani once appeared on national television assisting in doing the weather forecast for network weather personality Ginger Zee. This came immediately after she was asked to join the backup dancers on stage of a Pitbull concert in downtown New York City. She was five years old at the time of the daytime summer concert in the Big Apple.

Her height is nothing new for Celani as she expects to grow no more than an inch taller. She remembers being taller than most of her fellow students and expressed concerns to her parents. “For the longest time, I told my parents I would never find a boyfriend because I was too tall. Happy to say I have one now,” added Celani.

On the hardwood, the New Jersey born Celani, who also works part time as a hostess at Valentina’s Pizzeria, is a vocal leader of the team and assists each of her teammates to remain confident despite any mistakes made during play. “I try and motivate and not let them get down after a mistake. I used to be a quiet player on the court and I’m not sure what happened to make me change, but several of my teammates on my club teams motivated me to be talkative,” added Celani, who has a 3.8 grade point average in the classroom.

“She’s hard on herself, always wanting to get better, and understands there’s always room for growth,” said Aldridge. “She always has a strong presence on the court. Away from the court, she has a great sense of humor and at times is silly. Her teammates love her.”

Celani added on her skillful talents on the court, “I try to put the ball in open spots and push for points. I’m always trying to figure out how to make points for my team. I love winning. I hate to lose.”

James Clemens sophomore volleyball player Julia Celani is making a name for herself in the local high school sport by having what is being called a high “volleyball IQ.”