SPRINGDALE -- Klaire Trainor grew up in a sports family with a father who is still in the Arkansas record book for football.
She is the daughter of Kendall Trainor, who had a stretch of 24 consecutive field goals, including a 58-yarder, for Arkansas in 1988. Her uncle is Kevin Trainor, who was formerly the sports information director for the Razorbacks.
Profile
Klaire Trainor
School: Springdale Har-Ber
Class: Sophomore
Position: Outside Hitter
Notable: One of three sophomore starters for Har-Ber. … Had 12 kills when Har-Ber beat defending state champion Fort Smith Southside on Sept. 4… Contributed seven kills during 3-0 sweep of Fort Smith Northside on Tuesday. … Daughter of former Arkansas placekicker Kendall Trainor, who made 24 of 27 field goal attempts in 1988.
7A-West Conference Volleyball
Team^Overall^Conference
^W-L^W-L
Bentonville^16-2-2^4-0
Fayetteville^11-6^4-0
Fort Smith Southside^9-2^3-1
Rogers Heritage^7-5-1^2-2
Springdale Har-Ber^9-4^2-2
Rogers High^7-6^1-3
Springdale High^3-8^0-4
Fort Smith Northside^1-11-3^0-4
Tuesday’s Scores
Bentonville def. Springdale High 3-0.
Fayetteville def. Rogers High 3-0.
Fort Smith Southside def. Rogers Heritage 3-0.
Springdale Har-Ber def. Fort Smith Northside 3-0.
Tonight’s Matches
Springdale Har-Ber at Rogers Heritage, 6 p.m.
Bentonville at Fort Smith Southside, 6 p.m.
Fayetteville at Springdale, 6 p.m.
Rogers High at Fort Smith Northside, 6 p.m.
That's a lot of Razorback blood red running through her veins.
"When I was little, I used to dress up as a cheerleader," Klaire Trainor said. "A typical Saturday for the Trainors is still about cooking out and pretty much watching football all day."
Trainor no longer dresses as a cheerleader. She prefers being in the middle of the action instead of a support role. That's where she was again Tuesday as a sophomore starter for the Har-Ber volleyball team.
Trainor scored the first point and finished with seven kills to help Har-Ber to a 3-0 sweep over Fort Smith Northside. The win stopped a two-game conference slide for the Lady Wildcats (9-4, 2-2), who lost last week to Bentonville and Fayetteville.
Trainor (5-foot-8) displays power at the net and an all-out effort on the defensive end.
"Klaire has a thing like, 'I'm never going to let the ball hit the ground,'" Har-Ber coach Shyra Schisler said. "She will grind to the very end and those are the type of players we want on our team. Even when she makes a mistake, she comes right back with something good."
Har-Ber is led by seniors Kim Huff, Caroline Webb, and Tiffani Ray, the team's assists leader. But they count on strong support from sophomores like Trainor, Emily Doss, and Paige Williams, who also had seven kills in Tuesday's win over Northside.
"Klaire is a hard worker and a positive person," Ray said. "She is really good with the kill or the pass and she's fun to play with."
Trainor's interest in volleyball began as a seventh-grader, when she was encouraged by a friend to take up the sport. Trainor played in junior high then later joined the Ozark Juniors club team to help develop her skills.
"I need to do a better job of getting on top of the ball," said Trainor, an outside hitter. "I think I'm pretty good at placing the ball, but I still need to work on that."
Trainor has another opportunity to improve on her skills tonight when Har-Ber plays at Rogers Heritage, which fell 3-0 to Fort Smith Southside on Tuesday. The Lady Wildcats will then play three more conference games before facing Bentonville again on Oct. 2.
"I think we just had a rough week," Trainor said of the losses to Bentonville and Fayetteville. "Next time, we'll be ready."
Sports on 09/18/2014