Hi all! My name is Jonathan Ketterer, and I am the new sports information and communications intern here at the AVCA. One of my many duties as an intern is to start creating a weekly blog that will be published on Fridays. I am planning on putting some personality into these pieces, and in this first post, I would like to take the time to let the readers know a little bit about who I am and what my background in volleyball is.I was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and at the age of 19, I am a college sophomore at the University of Kentucky. I have two older brothers and an older sister who made many impressions upon me in my younger years. My sister was always an avid fan of volleyball, so naturally given our closeness in age, I was consistently attending her grade school games until I was given the opportunity to play myself. My grade school team was fairly dominant to say the least, winning our Louisville Catholic grade school league in three of the four seasons that we were eligible for it. As for high school, I attended Saint Xavier, and although I did not play there, I still managed to befriend many girls who were the product of other Louisville high schools' volleyball programs. In upcoming blogs, I hope to share some information on some of these girls that I know to give an insight as to what it takes to be a college volleyball player. With all of this being said, I would like to move on and speak about something that has happened in the women's volleyball season to date.
For those unaware, the Lady Toppers of Western Kentucky University are off to a hot start this season compiling a 10-1 record. In the latest AVCA poll, they hold 20 votes, sitting 6 spots outside the top 25, which is the highest that they have been recognized in the program's history. Another notable accomplishment for the team's season has been the recent honor given to junior outside hitter Jordyn Skinner. Last
week, she was named Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week after her literal "killing" performance (notching double-digit kills in all of the week's four matches) in the WKU Tournament which featured LSU, Xavier, Wake Forest, and the hosting Lady Toppers.With the wondrous season they have had thus far, it is amazing to see where the team was a little under a year ago. On October 7, 2010, the squad was travelling down Interstate 65 on their way to a match against South Alabama when their bus driver had a heart attack behind the wheel. The bus drifted across the median and back before coach Travis Hudson managed to grab the wheel and avoid what could have been a great disaster. Personally, I had reason to give thanks for the safety of those on board the bus, considering my friendships with current sophomore players Ashley Potts and Melanie Stutsman. The team would move on to play and sweep South Alabama the next night, which shows the resiliency that Hudson's team had last year. But this year, Hudson and the Lady Toppers may be looking at better record than last season's after starting 10-1 with only four non-conference games remaining on the schedule. WKU will start off a weekend of volleyball in Washington D.C. at the American Classic against the University of Missouri today at 3:30, and I wish them luck with this upcoming tournament and the rest of their season.
For those interested on reading more about the bus incident from last Fall, here is a link to the WKU Herald's article: http://wkuherald.com/sports/article_aee8494c-d288-11df-9e67-00127992bc8b.html
I look forward to continuing this blog, and I hope you tune in every Friday for new posts. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or ideas, feel free to e-mail me at jonathan.ketterer@avca.org. Thanks!
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