Watch a video of the surprise announcement and presentation of the Miss Volleyball trophy to Notre Dame's Katherine Carlson. Click here.
Determining what Notre Dame Prep’s Katherine Carlson is best at, you might pick volleyball. That makes perfect sense since the 5-foot-11 senior excels at the game, evidenced by leading her Fighting Irish teammates to the state quarterfinals this Tuesday as well as to a Class B championship last season. Or you might say her faith and work in the community is where she does her best work since she’s a regular at St. Vincent DePaul clothing drives, various food pantries, parish picnics and nursing home visits.
Or is it academics? She currently holds a 4.37 grade-point-average at the academically tough Notre Dame and earned a four-year scholarship to Valparaiso University, itself academically strong.
She’s also a fine artist with keenly developed talent in both drawing and painting.
But, truth be told, it is all of the above that catapulted Carlson to the top of Michigan’s volleyball class as the 2014 Miss Volleyball.
Notre Dame head coach Betty Wroubel says she cannot think of a more deserving player than outside hitter Carlson. “Her skill is just one thing, but her love and passion, not only for the game but for her teammates set Katherine above any athlete that I have known or coached,” Wroubel says. “In addition to being a great player and teammate, Katherine is also an excellent student and is very involved in her community — just a great representative for all of us.”
Since 2003, the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association has conferred the Miss Volleyball award to the high school senior in the state who exhibits stellar skills in her sport as well as in the classroom and community.
Carlson and her Fighting Irish (56-5) teammates are gearing up to take on Catholic League rival Dearborn Divine Child Tuesday in a MHSAA quarterfinal match at Clawson High School. In addition to last year’s title, NDP also won the volleyball state championship in 2007.
ACCOLADES
A four-year varsity starter at Prep who is approaching 1,000 kills this season, Carlson has garnered a boatload of impressive stats and awards during her high school career, including:
2014 awards as a senior (Most awards have not yet been released yet, but Wroubel believes Carlson should receive all of the same state and region awards that she’s received in the past as this season she has had an even bigger impact on NDP’s volleyball success so far.)
Gatorade Player of the Year award candidate
AVCA & Under Amour All American HM
Individual Academic All State (senior-only award)
Team Academic All State
All League, All Catholic
Finalist and winner of 2014 Michigan Miss Volleyball
AVCA Player of Week, Michigan, 8/25/14 and 9/15/14
Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, Oakland Press top players and players to watch list)
MaxPreps All American
AVCA Team Academic honors
2013 awards as a junior
AAU All American 16U OPEN
Junior National All Tournament 16U OPEN
1st team Underclassman All American Maxpreps 2013
PrepVolleyball Junior of the Year Runner Up
AVCA Player of Week, Michigan 10/7/13
1st team All State Class B Michigan
All Region, All County, All Catholic, All League
Team Academic All State
AVCA Team Academic honors
2012 awards as a sophomore
1st team All State Class B Michigan
Led state (all classes in kills with 923)
All Region, All County, All Catholic, All League
1st Team All American (Maxpreps, medium schools)
National Sophomore of the Year (medium schools) (Maxpreps)
Finalist for National Player of the Year (all size schools) (PrepVolleyball)
AVCA Player of Week, Michigan 8/12/12
Team Academic All State
AVCA Team Academic honors
2011 awards as a freshman
All Region, All County HM, All Catholic League HM
Notre Dame Prep most improved
Team Academic All State
AVCA Team Academic honors
Summarizing her skills on the volleyball court, Wroubel says, “She makes everything look so fluid and easy, plus she always looks like she’s having a good time, which I’m sure she is!”
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
Follow Notre Dame on Twitter at @NDPMA.
About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.