Junior outside hitter Kate Bostwick shares her hopes for the 2011 volleyball season
By Lesley Dawson Staff Writer dawson14@up.edu
Since the start of the volleyball pre-season, junior outside hitter Kate Bostwick has been nominated for back-to-back All-Tournament Team honors and has emerged as a key offensive and defensive player on the court.
The Pendleton, Ore., native began her volleyball career in fourth grade and continued throughout high school, playing club in Tri Cities, Wash. Off the court, Bostwick enjoys running, camping, the outdoors and spending time with her family and dogs.
Last season, Bostwick made the West Coast Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll. As she enters her third year at UP, Bostwick, a biology major, is considering a career in a sports-related science, such as exercise science.
In preseason tournament play, Bostwick emerged as one of the leaders on a team with a lot of depth. Her performances in both the Aztec Invitational and Portland Nike Invitational helped her become an integral part of both offensive and defensive elements of the Pilots' game.
"As an upperclassman, it's important to be a leader especially because we have so many younger people stepping up," Bostwick said. "Me, Ariel (Usher), Jess (Nguyen) and the other upperclassmen have done a good job of getting everyone on the court and feeling comfortable no matter what grade they are."
Fellow junior outside hitter Ariel Usher agrees with Bostwick that the upperclassmen are responsible for guiding the younger players.
"We need to show an example on and off the court as upperclassmen," Usher said. "We can't expect things that we don't do ourselves."
On Sept. 3, Bostwick was named to the Portland Nike Invitational All-Tournament Team, after receiving her first career All-Tournament Team nomination in the Aztec Invitational on Aug. 27.
After posting three matches with kills in the double digits so far in the preseason, Bostwick was excited about the tournament honors she received.
"It's really nice to know that your hard work is being noticed," she said. "It's always been a goal and it feels great to be recognized."
Usher is also excited about Bostwick's back-to-back All-Tournament Team nominations.
"I think it has really shown us and Kate that she is able to dominate the game when she wants to," Usher said. "That is so crucial for us because we need a player like Kate."
Head coach Joe Houck agrees that Bostwick has a legendary work ethic.
"She's one of the hardest working and most talented athletes on any court," Houck said. "It's a pleasure to see her hard work getting noticed with her performance."
Last weekend, the Pilots fell to Valparaiso and Lipscomb in the Golden Dome Invitational Opener, leaving them ranked at 4-7 going into the regular season, according to the West Coast Conference 2011 Women's Volleyball Preseason Poll.
"I feel like we have been consistent even though our record doesn't exactly show that," Bostwick said. "We just need to work on finishing those close games."
Bostwick said she has noticed a lot of improvement in the team, regardless of winning or losing. She hopes that these team dynamics and the hard work the Pilots have put in during the off-season will continue to benefit the team in conference play.
"We have a solid six out there at any time," she said. "That's a big advantage and a reason we are so much better this year."
Fresh off of a big win against Notre Dame, Bostwick hopes that this energy and their preparation in the preseason will propel the Pilots as they continue this week.
"We really want to finish the preseason with the win against Notre Dame, win two games this week and roll into the conference with confidence," Bostwick said.
In spite of their low preseason rank, Bostwick feels that the depth of the team and their experiences in preseason tournaments will help them reach their goals.
"We really hope to finish a lot higher than we did last year, hopefully in the top three," Bostwick said. "This is the best team we've had in a long time."
