Ellie Fleming is the only player on Baker’s volleyball roster who never comes off the floor.

The sophomore setter and right-side hitter plays all six rotations for the Gators, and through 12 matches this season, the stat sheet reads like it belongs to two players: 139 assists, 65 kills, 75 digs with zero errors and 30 aces while serving at a 98% clip.

Baker is 10-2, and Head Coach Chelsea Medley said one of the biggest reasons is Fleming’s consistency.

• “She’s just very steady,” Medley said. “I don’t see her get too high or low in emotions. That steadiness is just her temperament, and it’s nice to have.”

Fleming is Baker’s only six-rotation player, and Medley said knowing she’ll stay level no matter the situation gives the Gators a reliable anchor on the floor.

“She doesn’t come off the floor for us,” Medley said. “She’s been conditioning well. She doesn’t get tired.”

Fleming’s serving routine has become second nature. Before stepping to the line, she hits the ball five times, spins on her hand and takes a breath.

“Just letting God take care of it,” she said.

The approach is just as straightforward.

• “Just put it in, but put some pace on it,” Fleming said. “Serves are easy points, and if you put it in play, you’re not just giving them a point.”

The numbers back it up. Fleming has served at 100% in eight of 11 matches tracked this season, racking up 30 aces and 125 total points from the service line.

That all-around production was on full display in a five-set win over Walton on Aug. 31, when Fleming finished with 27 assists, eight kills, four aces and five digs.

“I remember the match being very intense, but it was so much fun,” she said. “Everyone was playing well, and even though we did lose two sets, we were fighting hard for it. Just play your best and put your body on the line, and that’s all you can do.”

Baker got another shot at Walton on Sept. 21 and again won in five sets, 3-2. Fleming said the Gators had to fight back from a six-point deficit during the match and needed bigger runs than Walton to pull it out.

• “We just had to come back from it and work as a team and be energetic about it,” she said.

Fleming’s path to Baker started when her father, then in the military, was stationed in the area when she was four years old. She has attended the school since kindergarten, and her mother works there as a school psychologist. Her two older brothers both played sports for the Gators, one in soccer and football, the other in football and basketball.

Growing up in a competitive household pushed her toward sports, and she found volleyball in fifth or sixth grade through the Grassroots program. By seventh or eighth grade, she knew she wanted to get serious.

“I’m in a very competitive family,” Fleming said. “I decided I want to do volleyball, but I want to be well at it.”

She added travel ball to her schedule and now plays beach volleyball at Crestview since Baker doesn’t field a beach team.

Medley coached Fleming in basketball during middle school before she committed fully to volleyball and said the sophomore’s natural tools set her apart.

• “The athleticism she carries, hand-eye coordination, ball tracking, timing,” Medley said. “As coaches, we try to figure out how to teach those skills. But a lot of times, the kid is already built with it. I think she’s already built with those skillsets, which is huge for this reaction game.”

Beyond the physical gifts, Medley said Fleming’s volleyball IQ has been her biggest area of growth, fueled by more reps and game scenarios in travel volleyball.

“Coaches always love their setters to be like a second coach on the floor,” Medley said. “They need to think like the coach, have the same type of ideas and strategies, and be rowing the boat in the same direction. I think that’s probably her biggest growth since middle school.”

Off the court, Fleming carries a 4.5 GPA and is involved in Beta Club and student government. She enjoys going to church, spending time with family and jumping at volunteer opportunities. Her favorite subject? Math.

“It just comes easy,” she said. “Math in my family, it all just kind of went to all of us.”

As a sophomore, Medley said Fleming hasn’t stepped into a full vocal leadership role yet but leads in other ways.

• “She leads by example,” Medley said. “She leads by her standards, by her composure. She’s not very vocal yet, but she just says it quietly. And maybe one teammate’s the only one that hears it.”

With two more years of Fleming running the offense, Medley sees the kind of continuity that can build something lasting.

“I haven’t had a setter stay with me since sophomore, junior, senior year in a long time,” Medley said. “And the last time I did that, we took it all the way for gold.”

As for what she wants people to know about this Baker team, Fleming kept the focus right where she always does.

“At practice we work really hard for what we’ve been able to accomplish this year,” she said. “We have so much potential, and even though they might not see that from the outside, we are working so, so hard to be able to have the record we have now.”

Her goal for the rest of the season was an easy answer:

“Get to this year’s district championship.”