Camdenton senior Bella Asante notches her 3000th career assist during the third set against Rogersville. Sophomore Ella Hulett got the kill on the play. @OzarksOzone pic.twitter.com/9gEd66N7Rd
— Dana Harding (@barkingdoxie) October 15, 2025
By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
In Camdenton’s 2022 season opener, freshman Bella Asante notched her very first assist against Helias Catholic.
Four years later, the Lakers senior setter recorded No. 3,000 in the penultimate regular season matchup against Logan-Rogersville, a routine ball to the left pin crushed by sophomore hitter Ella Hulett.
The milestone places Asante in some select company, as only 12 athletes in Missouri have eclipsed the mark.
If Camdenton is able to make a push into the postseason, Asante could feasibly finish in the top ten for her career.
“I’ve been trying to kind of think back on what freshman year was like,” Asante said. “A lot of times, I was just really trying to stay in the moment, because I knew there were a lot of girls on the court who weren’t my age, and I thought I had to prove myself to not only them, but the people in the stands, the student section, the coaches whoever it may bet. So, I think a lot of times I was a little overwhelmed, but I just tried to stay grounded in the moment and do what I was expected to do right there.”
While Asante had some lofty goals in mind as a freshman, 3,000 career assists was not in the conversation.
“Honestly, three thousand (assists) may not have been something I thought I would achieve,” Asante said. “I was hopeful that maybe one or two thousand was in reach and for sure – coming in as a freshman – one thousand was definitely something that was in reach.”
Stats aside, Camdenton head coach Austin Walker – the middle school PE instructor at the time – knew she had something special in Asante, even before she stepped foot on a high school court.
“I knew I had Bella coming up through the ranks,” Walker said. “As I saw her develop in middle school, I knew from that day she could be something; she could really be a stand-out player for us..”
Coming in at 5-foot-10, it was tempting to stick the freshman on the pin and reap the benefits for the next four years; however, Walker believed Asante was capable of running Camdenton’s entire attack from a 5-1 rotation.
“We contemplated multiple times over the last four years … do we run a 6-2 and let her swing, because she can swing,” Walker said. “She could be a killer pin hitter for anybody, but then it just comes back to wanting the ball in her hands every single time it’s on our side of the net, because she betters the ball that much for us. We know Bella’s going to make a smart decision, and we know Bella’s going to put us in a position to be successful, so we just stuck with it and it just worked.”
The initial adjustment took Asante some getting used to.
A dual-threat setter and hitter in her middle school 6-2 rotation, Asante wasn’t sure she was ready for the challenges required of a primary 5-1 setter at the varsity level.
“I had never run a 5-1 before, and I had to gain a lot of self confidence that wasn’t there, originally, because it was really important I was a threat on the front row, as well,” Asante said. “Even though I was there to set, it was important that I could score points, so I think there was also some room for growing, in finding that new groove and just having setting be my main thing.”
In addition, Walker made certain the adjustment period wasn’t a lengthy one by any stretch of the imagination. She slotted Asante in as the team’s day-one primary setter and never looked back.
While the season got off to a rough start with a 3-1 loss at Helias Catholic, Walker knew better times were close at hand.
“We trained her during her freshman year, and I threw her to the wolves,” Walker said. “I just said, ‘You’re the girl, you’re the girl, and you’re going to do it.’ I saw her in that first Helias match, and it was kind of like a deer in the headlights. We said, ‘Welcome to high school varsity volleyball,’ and from that moment she’s never had an excuse, she’s never pushed the blame on anyone else. It’s always been her – I can do this better, I can do this better.”
With Asante running a potent attack this season, Camdenton has surged to 20 wins and a No. 3 seed in next week’s Class 4 District 5 tournament. An impressive team accomplishment that has exceeded Walker’s initial expectations.
After losing four talented seniors to graduation over the summer, Walker and her staff hoped the Lakers would simply be able to enjoy the season and finish with more wins than losses.
“If you would have asked any of our staff this past summer, we would have been like, ‘we’re going to enjoy this year with these kids; we’re going to work for .500; we’re going to keep pushing these kids and just enjoy the time,’” Walker said. “But with Bella Asante, man, you are in for a ride with her.
“What people don’t realize is Bella gets us out of a lot of hair situations, especially when our serve-recieve is not on. She’s athletic enough to get there to put a hittable ball up to our hitters and just kind of keep our offense in system when times are tough. She just has continuously made us and everybody around her better, just because that’s how Bella works, and we work how Bella works.”
Following a regular season finale against Rolla Oct. 16, Camdenton begins district play Oct. 21 at home against Capital City.
