"It was horrible when I was a little kid," the Mount Pulaski High School senior said. "Everything was hard. Everything is right-handed. Even the simplest thing like a notebook is right-handed.

"Even the zippers on your jacket are right-handed based. I was always, as a little kid, trying to zip up my coat and I always had the hardest time. I couldn't do buttons and I couldn't write right either. Everything was backwards. It just makes all the simple processes hard."

She plans to share her experiences of being left-handed in a paper for a school assignment.

But being a lefty hasn't been all that bad. Left-handed athletes are a hot commodity, and Clements, a 6-foot setter on the Mount Pulaski volleyball team, definitely has benefited from it in her sports career. Her versatility earned her the reputation as one of the state's top players for one of the state's elite programs.

Clements has been a mainstay on The State Journal-Register All-Area Volleyball Team throughout her career and has been selected as this season's Honorary Captain. She was a first-team pick last year and a second-team choice as a sophomore.

Clements is the sixth different Mount Pulaski player to earn the top honor since the paper began handing out the award 12 years ago. Mount Pulaski has accounted for eight players of the year in all, with Sallie Bowles and Bethany Dulle winning two times apiece.

Clements was the centerpiece of the 37-6 Mount Pulaski team that finished second to Wheaton St. Francis for the third straight season at the Class A State Tournament. The Hilltoppers placed third at state her freshman year.

She tallied a team-leading 978 assists and 63 aces in her final season, and was second on the team in blocks (90) and third in kills (174). She also contributed 247 digs.

"I got a little better at being a leader this year because I was probably the oldest and most experienced on the team," said Clements, an honor student who has signed with Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. "I got a little smarter and learned a few more things that I needed to pick up on like learning where the block goes and how to tip more strategically, and my serve got a lot better. I really improved on my serve."

For three years and a portion of her freshman season, Clements played an integral role in Mount Pulaski's success. She took over the starting setter position as a sophomore.

When she arrived at Mount Pulaski, the program already had established a winning tradition, but her contributions definitely enhanced it with an arsenal of talents.

"Mallory is a winner," Mount Pulaski coach Donna Dulle said. "Mallory would find a way to win, even maybe if we were the underdog. A lot of games we won because she found a way. She just had so many weapons.

"She can set the ball up to the hitters. She can push the ball over in the hole. She'd force the other team to have a bad pass on the ball she'd give them."

But it doesn't stop there.

"She brought fun to the program where she could play and practice at a high level but still have fun doing it and make the kids around her enjoy the game," Dulle said. "She has that air about her that she was a winner and expected everybody else to be like that."

Marcia Martinez can be reached at 788-1547 or marcia.martinez@sj-r.com.