Jasmine Mooney had to quickly adapt to being the leader of the Marian Fillies.

Two years ago, she was a freshman who shuffled in from time to time in a stacked Fillies’ rotation.“I didn’t really play that much freshman year,” the Marian junior explained. “It was very nerve-racking when I did. I didn’t want to let anyone down, especially the seniors.”Last year, she started every game and began to open up eyes across the state.“I got used to starting sophomore year,” she said. “It just became natural. Now I have that confidence all the way around.”And this season, she put all of the facets of her game together.Mooney was the clear, unquestioned ace in the hole for the Fillies, racking up countless eye-popping statistics to stuff her resume. She led by example and piled up 502 kills this season, while MaxPreps ranked her eighth in the country in serving aces.More importantly, Mooney and her newfound killer instinct led the Fillies to the PIAA Class 1A state finals this year, gaining a silver medal when it was all said and done.Her ferocious, relentless effort has earned her the 2016 Times News Volleyball Player of the Year award. The outside-hitter added to Marian’s dynasty, marking the 26th time across the last 27 years that a Fillie has captured the award.“Being player of the year was always one of my goals,” Mooney said. “I saw all of the great players that have played for Marian who have achieved this award. I always looked up to them, and they taught me leadership skills and how to play volleyball. It was the Marian tradition that I always wanted to live up to.”Mooney’s serve is intimidating, one which opposing coaches try to game plan for and mimic in practice. The truth is, there aren’t many people in the state who can simulate such a crushing serve that Mooney has in her back pocket.Serving is now one of her biggest strengths, largely thanks to her unremitting work ethic. The Fillies’ junior has improved every aspect of her game since she stepped onto the court as a freshman. Mooney never stops because she fell in love with the game years ago.“I play pretty much all year around,” Mooney said. “I play club in the winter and do tournaments in the summer. I started in fourth grade for CYO. Volleyball just grew on me and it stood out from every other sport and activity that I participated in. I fell in love with it around seventh or eighth grade. I think there was just something about it, just the pace and work ethic for the game. I l love playing with all of my friends in this team sport.”Mooney is always looking to improve her game, and she has just the right head coach to make her work for everything she plans to achieve.“I challenged her,” said Marian head coach John “Doc” Fallabel. “And she picks up a volleyball every chance she gets. She is just a superb outside-hitter and she has such a multitude of shots.“She is amazing and you can quote me on that. She spent some time with some coaches during the winter season working on her serve, and she takes a lot of pride in it. Jasmine is one of the best in the state in the 1A division from what I’ve seen this year.”Marian lost a plethora of firepower over the past few years. Mooney mentioned that the Fillies had a “chip on their shoulder” this season, which helped them produce the results to match the standard of the Marian volleyball legacy. The new attitude fueled the team, and Mooney was the catalyst of the attack.“Everyone expected us to be a great team over the years. There were a lot of low expectations this year and nobody expected us to go as far as we did. Everyone thought that we were going to crack under pressure, but we proved everyone wrong. That’s a satisfying feeling.”Perhaps she is satisfied for now, but Mooney has the never-quit attitude. She picked it up at an early age, growing up with three older brothers.“It taught me to stay tough all of the time and not really give up; they used to pick on me a lot,” she said with a laugh. “They pushed me to do everything. My family has been a huge influence on my life.“I’m hungry for next season. We have some upcoming freshmen and sophomores that will have some big shoes to fill, but I know they can do it.”