PALATINE, Ill. – First-year setter Katelyn Sommers (/Buffalo Grove) has exhibited her versatility throughout the 2015 Harper College volleyball season. An excellent and consistent setter, Sommers also plays good defense. She also has strong and effective serves that hit all the spots on the court.
Most importantly, Sommers is the leader that a team needs out of the setting position. At 34-12 overall and ranked No. 6 in the nation, the Hawks are primed to make a push for nationals, and Sommers has a lot to do with it. For these many reasons she has been named the first Harper College Athlete of the Week for the 2015-16 school year.
Sommers is leading the nation with 1,458 assists on the year, outdistancing her nearest challenger by over 130 assists. Sommers also ranks fifth in the nation with 9.53 assists/set, showing that her high assist total isn't solely because the Hawks play more matches than most teams in the country, and it is also impressive considering the level of competition the Hawks face on a week-to-week basis. Head coach Bob Vilsoet also praised the quality of her sets and how it has made the hitters on the team better.
"All the hitters are hitting for higher percentages than normal by several percentage point clearly due to the excellent locations on her sets and a minimum of setting errors or poorly located sets."
In addition to her quality setting, Sommers also plays well on the defensive end of the court. She ranks third on the Hawks with 537 digs in 153 sets (3.51 digs/set) and is seventh in the nation in that category. Sommers' ability in the service game is also evident, as she leads the sixth-ranked Hawks in service aces with 64.
With her strong setting and defense comes a bevy of double-doubles. Sommers has an incredible 30 of those in 46 matches this season.
Katelyn isn't the only Sommers who has played volleyball at Harper College. Her sister, Kelly, played for the Hawks and Vilsoet in 2011 and 2012. As a sophomore, Kelly earned First Team All-Conference, All-Region and Region IV All-Tournament honors as well as being named an NJCAA Div. III Player of the Week. Kelly was also named the first-ever Harper College Athlete of the Week back on Aug. 31, 2012.
In her two years playing for Harper, the program won a combined 70 matches. Kelly moved on to play volleyball at Concordia University and is finishing up her education on her way to becoming a kindergarten teacher.
"I like it a lot when younger sisters play at Harper after their older sister plays. If the older sister has a good experience, she tells her young sister to play at Harper too," Vilsoet said. "Since we've had many excellent sisters like this at Harper, it essentially proves how much fun and competitive this volleyball environment actually is."
Sommers decided to come to Harper based on the positive feedback she got from her sister, Kelly, and the persistence of Vilsoet.
"Volleyball was important to me because I love all sports," she said. "So it was just an extra push for me to go here."
She is really glad she's made the decision to come to Harper and describes it as totally different than what she expected and "really easy to get to know people." Sommers plans to get her Associate degree from Harper and is undecided on her major at this point.
Perhaps most significantly, she cherishes the bus rides to away games and friendships she's made with her teammates.
"If we connect off the court, it'll be easier to connect on the court," she said. "You have 12 best friends just in that team. I love it."
Sommers strongly endorses coming to Harper to play a sport in college.
"I would totally tell anyone to do it because you're going to play the sport you love and be in a good social setting."
