If you would have told her four years ago, at the start of her junior year in high school, that she would someday be a starter for the No. 9 collegiate volleyball team in the country, she would have laughed at you.
I would've said, 'Yeah right, I'm playing a different sport.' I would have laughed, pretty much. I would not have believed it at all.""
But that is exactly what sophomore opposite hitter Katherine Dykstra is doing for the UW volleyball team this year, and her performance thus far in the 2007 season gives no indication whatsoever that she had never even played the game until she was halfway done with high school.
The 6'3' product of Wilmette, Ill. was a force on the basketball court and a track star in javelin and shotput. She blocked shots on now-Tennessee basketball superstar Candice Parker while playing for the New Trier High School Trevians. She even figured that she might pass on sports and make it in college playing her bassoon, a passion of hers since the fifth grade. But she never imagined when she took up volleyball that it would lead to a career with one of the nation's best programs.
""My first choice was to go for track, to throw,"" Dykstra said. ""My second choice was for basketball, and then music was always in there, and I was trying to debate whether I wanted to be a music major or not. So playing volleyball in college had not entered my mind until [UW head coach Pete Waite] came to practice and said, 'We want you to come play volleyball.'""
""Her club coach sent an e-mail out to a lot of colleges, and talked about [having] a late starter,"" Waite said. ""She was 6'3' and touched, I think he said at the time, 10'5', and any time that comes across a coach's desk, they're going to pay extra close attention to it and make a point of going and seeing that athlete.
So we went out to her practice, and as soon as I saw her jumping, we had interest just because she had the ability to jump with head and shoulders above the net, and not many athletes can do that as a junior in high school.""
With such raw talent and inexperience, Dykstra redshirted her first season with the Badgers to hone her skills. Surrounded by teammates who had been playing since elementary school, she faced frustration in getting the hang of the collegiate game.
""It's really intimidating to walk in with a group of people, [all of] them saying, 'Oh, I've been playing for 10 years,'"" Dykstra said. ""I've been playing for two. [But] it's really great because my learning curve went up a lot - it had to, to be able to play with them.""
After two years of development and improvement, Dykstra has harnessed her abilities and is beginning to show a great deal of prowess on the court. Already she has played in 41 of the team's 52 games this year - 20 more than she did all of last year - and has started in 11 of 15 matches. She currently sits second on the team in hitting percentage at .313 for players with over 100 kills and last week was ranked as the tenth best blocker in the Big Ten. Her incredible vertical abilities have been posing problems for opposing teams and coaches are beginning to take notice.
""She gets really, really, really high above the net,"" senior middle blocker Taylor Reineke said. ""It's so funny, especially trying to block her in practice. I'm reaching as high as I can, and sometimes I just can't touch her [shots]. That's really tough for a defense behind a smaller block to play around that.""
""When teams come in and I talk to their coaches, they're often saying that she's been the real difference from last year to this year,"" Waite said. ""They really have to deal with her once they step on the court. They watch her on tape and they're not quite sure how they're going to do it come game time.""
But perhaps the most exciting aspect of Dykstra's play up to this point is that there is still room for improvement.
""She still has a ways to go, and she knows that,"" Waite said. ""But the thing is, she's kind of a sponge and she's learning on the job because she's getting the court time. [When] you're forced to get the job done in front of thousands of people, your focus is that much better.""
Despite her impressive progression up to this point, Dykstra wants to become more of a dominant force for the team on the court. Fortunately, playing in the Big Ten against some of the toughest teams in the country with two years of eligibility left to go, she likely will get her chance.
""I hope to become more consistent in our blocking and hitting and be able to go out there and know that the team across the net from me is scared of me,"" Dykstra said, ""that I can look at every player on that team and know that I can beat you.""
