CARMEL VALLEY – Until last week, Kelly Reeves had never worn her mother's Olympic silver medal.

The hardware, a symbol of Jeanne Reeves' accomplishments with the U.S. women's volleyball team at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, usually hangs in a case in the family's Carmel Valley home. Only when a photographer requested she put it on did Kelly drape the medal around her neck.

She's hoping some day she'll have one of her own.

“She wants a gold medal,” Jeanne said. “She says, 'Mom, you only have a silver. I want the gold.' I say more power to her. I hope she gets it.”

Kelly is a long way from realizing Olympic dreams. For now, the 15-year-old Cathedral Catholic sophomore is focused on her Dons winning a San Diego Section title. But with an impeccable volleyball pedigree, a motor that never seems to stop and a wicked spike to boot, the 5-foot-10 outside hitter believes she is cut from Olympic cloth.

“I want to play at the highest level,” Reeves said. “I have to play every ball 100 percent. Because if I take a play off, that's a step backward I've taken.”

That drive is equal parts matriarchal and self-manifested.

“I get pushed, but I expect to be pushed because this is my dream,” Kelly said. “I want to be pushed. I love volleyball. And my mom guides me toward what I want to become.”

Born Jeanne Beauprey, Kelly's mother was a fantastic all-around athlete growing up in Mission Viejo. She played volleyball and basketball at UCLA, where she earned All-America honors before joining the national team as a setter and middle blocker. The '84 squad remains the highest-placing U.S. team in indoor volleyball since it became an Olympic sport in 1964.

“She's light-years ahead of where I was at her age,” Jeanne said of Kelly. “When I started high school, I didn't even know how to serve overhand. I was a late bloomer.”

Jeanne remained active in the sport after the Olympics. She went on to play professionally overseas, then returned to UCLA as an assistant coach for six years and eventually was an assistant at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

She coaches Kelly's club team, the Encinitas Waves.

It's not hard to see where Kelly gets her athleticism. Her father ran track at national power Oregon. Her brother Connor, 16, also plays volleyball for Cathedral, and 12-year-old Jake is just taking up the sport.

“She's bookended by two boys, but they all love the sport and they support each other,” Jeanne said. “This is her dream, and I'm going to support her.”

On the court, Reeves already has separated herself as one of the region's elite players. That makes life a lot easier for Cathedral coach Kelly Drobeck, whose Dons have won eight of the past nine section Division III titles.

“She's so self-driven, and that's just in her nature,” said Drobeck, who is in her 10th year with the team. “She tries to outperform herself day in and day out. She sees the court so well and she's so explosive.”

Colleges also are taking notice. About 30 have sent preliminary letters expressing interest in her services. The attention, will only increase as she improves her game and – she hopes – becomes taller than her mom, who stands 6 feet.

“She wants to be in a top program, and she wants to play in the big arenas,” Jeanne said. “She's willing to put in the work. It's not what you do during the week. It's the little things you do on Saturday and Sunday when there is no coach around that makes you a better player. Are you willing to do the little things? And I think she is.”

Of course, it never hurts to have an Olympian as a sounding board.

“I pick up so much from her,” Kelly said. “She's always my mom first. But she gives me a lot of advice. She knows what it takes to get there. And that's where I want to be.”

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