Eight hundred fifty-one miles.

That's the distance between Fayetteville, Arkansas and Tallahassee.

The drive totals over 13 hours and crosses through four states.

But that distance didn't matter for an 8-year-old Kennedy 'Kenna' Phelan when she made the trek down in 2013.

No, Phelan knew she was where she belonged, her second home.

The freshman made her FSU volleyball debut Friday with 20 assists in a 3-0 victory over Western Carolina in the Classic City Clash in Athens, Georgia.

It marked a historic moment. She joined her mother, Jennifer, as the only mother-daughter duo Seminole coach Chris Poole has coached during his 41-year career.

Kenna was a 5-star recruit by vballrecruiter.com and the Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year in 2021 and 2022.

“We have a really cute picture from camp that we like to bring up all the time,” Kenna told the Democrat. “I'm sure for him it was pretty strange. She was one of the first players that he had coached. He was at the beginning of his career and then now here I am her daughter.”

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FSU went undefeated and didn't drop a set in wins over West Carolina (Friday), Georgia (Saturday) and Connecticut (Sunday).

Jessica started to play Poole at Arkansas from 1995-98, joining in the second year of the program.

“I obviously have a long relationship with Coach Poole in terms of like having played for him a long time ago,” Jessica told the Democrat. “But there's also that peace of heart knowing that even though she's like far away from home she's at home.”

When Jessica joined Poole’s Arkansas team, he was sitting at 232 career wins as head coach. When she left, he had 342.

Poole is now at 897 wins, three shy of becoming just the eighth coach in Division I history with 900, with Kenna on the roster.

“That'd be very surreal,” Kenna said of the chance of her being on the team when Poole reaches his milestone. “That would very much like a full circle moment. It would be incredible.”

The very first camp

Poole coached at Arkansas from 1994 to 2007. In 2008 he took the position with FSU. He owns a 345-116 record at Florida State and has guided the Seminoles to 11 consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 2009-19.

FSU reached the first round last season despite dealing with injuries to its main players throughout the season.

Jessica, who is a volleyball head coach at Fayetteville High, brought her team to a camp in Tallahassee 10 years ago in 2013.

With the pre-existing relationship with Poole, Jessica brought her daughter along as well.

“Her being able to come to camp was really just me getting a chance to have her here on campus and her be around during camp time,” Poole told the Democrat. “Her family is like family to me and all of my former players. I feel very close to but I have followed Kennedy her whole life and she's been a great player.

“Very mature for her age. She's been a leader her whole life, just a gym rat, and for the time that her mom was going in and coaching with Kennedy being young she was already going into the gym with her mom and being able to be there practices to watch her mom coach, I think that's made a very big impact on her career.”

Jessica herself has enjoyed a strong coaching career herself but at the high school level. She has over 500 wins and led Fayetteville to Arkansas 6A State Champions seven times (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021 and 2022).

Same day commitment from the lifelong FSU fan

With Poole at FSU, it was easy for Kenna to pick a favorite college, despite being in the same city as her mom and dad’s college Arkansas.

Along with playing indoor volleyball, Kenna will be on the beach volleyball team, as well.

“I’ve known of Florida State for a really long time,” Kenna said. “It's always been my dream to come here because they have not only a really good indoor program, they also have a really good beach program. And that's a really unique, dynamic that they have and obviously Coach Poole is incredible.”

So how easy of a decision was it to commit to her dream school?

Kenna said she received an offer in June of her sophomore year, right when she was first eligible as a volleyball player to get one.

The same day as receiving that offer, she called Poole back and committed.

“After we had nationals they had called me and offered me,” Kenna said. “I committed later that day.”

Kenna said the only thing she had to do before she committed to FSU was talk to her mother. But her mind was already made up.

When she called Poole back, the significance of playing for the same coach who coached her mother hit her.

“When I committed it became more real,” Kenna said. “Because it was kind of something I'd always dreamed about and idolized, but it wasn't ever set in stone. It became real when I committed and then I came on my official and I got to campus and now he's coaching me.”

For any parent, the hardest part of the college process is sending their child off, especially if it is close to 1,000 miles away from their home.

But Jessica had the knowledge of knowing that she’d be coached by someone she knows.

“I think that we know that Coach Poole can push her when she needs a push and pump her up when she needs that,” Jessica said. “I think that the girls have been also wonderful to her. And so she already feels like she's part of this Seminole volleyball family.”

Polar opposites: Mother, unlike daughter

Kenna went from being coached by her mom at Fayetteville High to being coached by someone she has known her entire life.

But just because she has been coached by her mom and plays the same sport doesn’t mean she and her mom are anything alike on the court.

As a middle blocker with the Razorbacks, she became the first All-American in program history in 1998.

Jessica (Surname: Field) was listed at 6-foot-2 and led the Razorbacks to three NCAA Tournament appearances, including her senior year when they reached the Round of 16.

Meanwhile, Kenna was brought to FSU as a premium recruit as a setter. She is listed by FSU at 5-foot-7.

“Her mom was a big strong, athletic middle, and Kenna is a setter and is very quick,” Poole said. “They're completely different styles. I would say athletically, Kenna is probably more like her dad who was a college tennis player.”

Darin Phelan played collegiate tennis at Arkansas and was a team captain. He was then an assistant coach for the Razorbacks from 1993-99 and has been a tennis coach in the Fayetteville School District since 2008.

“Her dad is one of those athletes that can pick up a golf club or baseball bat or a tennis racquet and he's just super coordinated,” Jessica said. “Whereas me as an athlete, I had to get really grind to not that I wasn't coordinated.

“But she's just naturally more like her dad. in terms of she played tennis her senior year for her to her dad. She played softball a little bit growing up.”

Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports) and Instagram (tlhnolesports).

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU volleyball: Kenna Phelan making history with coach Chris Poole