Then-sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Kearney goes up for a kill against Campbell on Sept.18, 2015. Kearney led the Pack with 16 kills in the 3-0 dominant win in Carmichael gymnasium in front of 844 fans." />
Nick Faulkner
Then-sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Kearney goes up for a kill against Campbell on Sept.18, 2015. Kearney led the Pack with 16 kills in the 3-0 dominant win in Carmichael gymnasium in front of 844 fans.
For the NC State volleyball team, this season holds so much promise. There has been a high turnover rate in both players and coaches. However, one of the returners that Wolfpack fans will be happy to see is middle blocker Kaitlyn Kearney. The junior from Frisco, Texas finished second on last year’s squad with 302 kills. Many believe she will be even better this season.
This marked improvement would be impressive for any player, but what makes her growth even more special is that it comes from a player who jumped onto the scene earning ACC Freshman of the Week three times and was selected to the All-ACC Freshman Team. She led the team in kills with 277, blocks with 118 and points scored with 360.5 during her rookie season with the Pack. New head coach Linda Hampton-Keith is just as excited and optimistic about Kearney.
“Kaitlyn in particular has really grown tremendously,” Hampton-Keith said. “I think she’s an athlete and leader on this team. She really is putting in a lot of effort into being a leader.”
She followed up a dominant campaign by making the Allstate Sugar Bowl Collegiate Classic All-Tournament Team and being only one of two players to start all 32 matches last season. She averaged 2.56 kills per set which was second on the team, and 1.26 blocks per set which was sixth best in the ACC.
“On the court, she’s a really great leader because she holds you to a higher standard,” junior Emily Harris said. “She’s a leader with her actions. She can really take control of a court and make it her own.”
However, Kearney’s value to this team is not just her on-court performance. Harris, a fellow Texas native, raved about what a good friend Kearney is.
“She’s a really good friend, she’s always there for you to talk and she’s kind of like a team mom for a friend,” Harris said.
Even though she has excelled in volleyball it was not her first sport. She started off in basketball, but she was not very good at it by her own account.
“I played a lot of basketball, I wish I was better,” Kearney said. “I really liked both and then volleyball, I grew a love for it. Just all the different emotions you go through throughout the game and all the team unity on the court.”
She says that she started taking volleyball seriously at the age of 15, and it did not take long for the results of her newfound passion to show. In high school she was a three-year starter and led her team to three consecutive playoff appearances finishing as regional finalists and area champions.
She was also named first team All-District three times, district blocker of the year as a junior and senior, first team all-state in 2013 as a senior and was a 2012-13 Vype Magazine Queen of the Court. She accomplished all of this while being a four-time academic All-District, academic all-state and four-year member of the National Honor Society. Her accomplishments in high school helped her earn a scholarship from NC State.
“This was actually my first visit,” Kearney said. “So it was love at first sight I guess. I wanted to get away from home, I love Texas but I needed a break. Coming here was just great. I just love the fans and how everyone here loves the school just as much as I do.”
Kearney looks to build upon two great seasons and will be on court to compete again Friday in Reynolds Coliseum at 11 a.m.