Photograph courtesy Stevenson family
Perry Stevenson wanted to follow in her mother Laura’s footsteps and become a Severna Park High School standout volleyball player and continue as such in college. Perry started playing at her mother’s alma mater during her freshman year.
“My mom is my inspiration,” says Perry, now a senior at Severna Park. “She is who I want to be.”
On top of that, she, like her mother, received an academic and athletic scholarship to play in college. Perry will compete for Canisius University in Buffalo, New York, starting this fall.
Laura, who was 6-foot during her playing days at Loyola University Maryland, says, “I love to see her playing volleyball because I played it most of my life.”
The 6-foot-1 Perry, in turn, enjoyed watching her mother compete at the YMCA in Severna Park. The volleyball carried over to the Stevenson’s family driveway. That’s where Perry developed her skills playing with Laura and her father Brett.
“I would go out in the driveway and pass the ball back and forth with my mom and dad,” Perry recalls. “I still do it today. I have done it ever since I started playing.”
Laura encouraged her daughter, but made sure she didn’t put too much pressure on her. “I supported what she wanted to do,” Laura says. “To be around and answer questions. Whatever she needed. I tried not to correct her too much. I told her about the small things she could learn. I just wanted her to enjoy it.”
Perry also learned a lot from ex-Severna Park Volleyball Coach Tim Dunbar, who has won four Class 4A state championships in 25 years. The 18-year-old Stevenson, a four-year varsity starter and team co-captain as a senior, played for Dunbar from 2020 to 2023.
“He gave me a lot of confidence,” Stevenson says. “He trusted me as a leader, and it made my game better. He put it in my mind that I was a great player.”
Stevenson was known for sparking her team with timely kills. She led Severna Park in that category with 218 last year and finished 12th in the state.
Stevenson had some dominant performances last fall. She racked up 24 kills and 18 digs in a four-set win over South River on September 28th and totaled 20 kills in a sweep of Old Mill on October 10th.
“The expectation was when you come to a game, she would score some big points that were very impressive,” says new Severna Park Volleyball Coach Caitlin Mills, who served as a Falcons’ assistant last year. “Teams definitely had to game plan for her. Most teams attacked her early and served to her often. The goal was to tire her out. It didn’t happen.”
Stevenson also ranked first on the 10-7 Falcons in digs (121) and second in aces (37) as she was named a First-Team All-County selection in 2023.
In 2022, she made Honorable Mention All-County honors. “The skill level she had at her size is not normal,” Mills says. “She could do it all.”
Stevenson also developed her skills playing an eight-month schedule for the Chesapeake Elite Volleyball Club for the past three seasons. Competing in national qualifiers in Orlando, Las Vegas, Nashville, Kansas City, Atlanta, and Boston highlighted her time.
She earned offensive most valuable player honors during the 2022–23 seasons. “I think playing for Chesapeake has made me mentally stronger as an athlete and person,” Stevenson says. “I am seeing all the great talent out there and not just what’s in the county. It’s an eye-opener, and it just wants me to work harder.”
Now with the club season over, Stevenson—who carries a weighted 4.5 grade-point average—will focus sharply on getting ready for the season at Canisius. “She checks all the boxes of the things I value, including a proven track record of academic success,” Canisius Volleyball Coach Tom Hanna says. “She is one of those kids you don’t have to drag toward something. She’s running toward all the things she has to do.”
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