This was one trip Jenny Heppert couldn’t wait to take.

Heppert, an incoming senior at Free State High, and her club volleyball team, Team KC, qualified for the USA Junior Olympic Volleyball Championships in April. For the past two months, Heppert has been practicing with her team for the tournament, which begins today at the Atlanta Convention Center.

“People say it’s a blast and a lot of fun,” Heppert said. “I’m just really excited to go down there and play.”

Team KC, which features mostly Kansas City-area players, is one of 48 teams in the club division at the five-day tournament.

Heppert, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker, is in her first season with Team KC after playing with Sport2Sport last year. Ironically, Team KC beat Sport2Sport to advance to nationals.

The switch paid off.

“I went to try out for Team KC this year,” Heppert said. “I’d never really experienced volleyball outside of Lawrence.”

Christy Posey, her club coach, has taken Team KC to nationals before, but was excited for Heppert to experience the tournament this year. Posey, an assistant coach at Kansas University, should know how much the club experience will help Heppert for the upcoming high school season — she previously coached at Blue Valley North and Blue Valley Northwest.

Although, both Heppert and Posey know the high school and club seasons are entirely different.

Free State High senior Jenny Heppert has good reason to smile: She's traveling to Atlanta for the Junior National volleyball tournament this weekend. Heppert is pictured Wednesday at Kansas University.

“There’s almost no comparison,” Heppert said. “High school is all about rivalries and getting to state. Here, you’re going past that.”

It certainly will help her resume.

Juniors could be described as AAA baseball, while high school would be rookie league. The Junior players are bigger, faster and hit a lot harder.

Playing in that environment, Heppert probably will emerge as a much-improved player.

“Oh yeah,” Free State volleyball coach Nancy Hopkins said. “When you’re playing at that level all year long, it just makes your game that much better.”

Heppert, who led the Sunflower League in blocks (175), was third on FSHS in kills (134) and fourth in kill percentage.

Hopkins thinks Heppert could develop into a top-notch hitter and player.

“In my personal opinion, I think she’s going to be better than (2001 graduate) Joyia Chadwick,” Hopkins said. “She played varsity as a sophomore and that kind of experience is really going to accelerate her game.”

That’s high praise. Heppert is the same size as Chadwick, a two-time All-Sunflower League selection, but Hopkins thinks Heppert might be more mobile — the main difference between the two players.

But enough with high school. It’s still club season, and Heppert’s pumped.

“It’s going to definitely be exciting,” she said. “It’s going to be a rush.”