Draft Prospect Profile: MB Keondreya Granberry
Granberry has been nothing but terminal throughout her college career.
During the 2024 college volleyball season, there was just one D1 player anywhere who outpaced Keondreya Granberry in hitting efficiency. It’s impossible to start the story anywhere but there. The Tennessee middle blocker took 336 swings, and 189 of them went down for kills. With just 36 errors to accompany those kills, she finished the season with an eye-popping .455 hitting percentage.
It’s not as if opposing defenses were unaware that Granberry can pack a punch — she’s been a weapon for the Vols for years. She simply outclassed the competition night after night.
“I think it goes down to the coaching staff,” said Granberry in mid-April. “They've really pushed me to be the best I can. They saw my potential from a young age when they started recruiting me. And they're like parents away from home. They're there to talk to me, even outside volleyball stuff, to get that settled out. So on the court, I'm doing the best I can, but a lot of my thanks does go to them for pushing me to my fullest potential.”
The mental side of the game is crucial for Granberry. When she’s locked in mentally, she can cut loose on the court, and she has the mental toughness to grind out days when she’s not feeling her best. That leaves her prepared to make the most of any opportunity to impact the score.
“When we're playing sixes, I'm going at the other middle across the net. I could be playing not my best, but I would still keep my team up, knowing that I'm still helping produce something and not just slacking in other fields. My offense — I know that's a strength of mine; it's been for a minute now,” she said.
That was a huge aspect of her breakout campaign last year. Her competitive drive was further fueled by postseason success, which she tasted for the first time in 2023 with the Lady Vols. Hungry for more, she felt an extra boost in 2024.
“We went to the Sweet 16, but I wanted to get further on. I didn't want to come short again. We know what it takes to get to that level, putting the effort in day in and day out. So in the end, we're not regretting anything. So just going in there, keep working with my strengths and getting better at those, and I think that's what helped with me having the season I had last year,” she said.
Another key strength for Granberry is her adaptability. She came to the sport later than many of her peers, and as she gets more exposure to high level volleyball, her approach and shot selection have been forced to evolve. That hurdle proves to be too much for many players, but she’s embraced the task.
“In the past, I swung a lot to left back, and there was a lot of good liberos I played against that would dig it up. So, over time, I learned how to better up my cutbacks to swing it towards right back where the setter usually is, and that has become my strength,” said Granberry.
“During the fall, when we watch film, we watch offensive stuff and we can kind of tell what the teams are going to want to do against each of us as a player. And over time, a lot of teams have taken my strong swing, which is the cutback away,” Granberry elaborated. “That's helped me have a bigger toolbox. There might be a commit block on me or a double block, but I know I can have the tip right behind the block in the doughnut to cause some chaos on the court. And then just keeping my swings high too to get a tool off of the block.”
Ultimately, Granberry boiled her strengths down to this simple formula — she possesses the eye speed to see the block and the arm speed to go the other way.
If there’s a reason to believe that the Federation won’t value Granberry as highly as her junior year numbers might indicate, it’s because she almost exclusively goes up off two feet to attack. There are few instances on tape of her woking from behind the setter on a slide, and even fewer instances where the ball is sent her way. We don’t have enough data to draw sweeping conclusions about PVF scouting, but they seem to prefer middles who can run the slide and play with more athleticism than Granberry demonstrates.
There’s also the matter of her defense, which has lacked the high end consistency of her offense during her college career.
“I've seen myself do it in high level games, so I know that I can keep working at it and become a strong all-around player in the long run,” she said. “When it came to blocking, I knew I fell a bit short. But I don't want to leave here with regrets. I know I can bring offense. I think me pounding in this off season with my blocking and adding that to who I am as a player, I have the potential to leave here an All-American.”
The best defense, as the old saying goes, is a good offense, and Granberry is able to simplify things for herself on defense by causing havoc on the other side with her attack.
“You don't want to give them an easy ball to their libero. We’re putting them in a very chaotic situation by taking the setter out or serving aggressively to get them off the net. So we read the situation and bank on who we think they're going to set and knowing like if the setter's out, they can't set the middle, so it's just pin to pin work,” she explained.
If the PVF comes calling once the upcoming season is through, Granberry is ready to answer. She reflected in the last big transition in her life, choosing Tennessee for her college career. Her goal was to choose a destination far from home, but that’s as much of a priority anymore. “Graduating straight from college, it's a big step to go overseas,” she said. “I'm not opposed to it, but if I had the option, I would stay in the States for a bit.”
It’s tough to not imagine a team somewhere taking a chance on an arm so talented as Granberry. When I asked her how she would pitch her game to a pro team, though, she focused more on her work ethic than resumé.
“I'd say I'm a player that you can count on when it comes down to it. Like when it comes down to top games, like, I will perform 101% of my ability on the court in the game. I know I can bring the competitive level within practices and challenge other players outside of a position in my position to be the best they can be.”
Some quotes were lightly edited for clarity. To watch full Tennessee games, click here and here.
Good insight on her game.