Oct. 20, 2014
Jonathan Toman
[email protected]
Kim Catlett witnessed someone take off most of his clothes in Café 65 to reveal a superman costume (complete with cape) and then walk away with a brief “nice to meet you” to Catlett and her friends.
She can cross that off her list of things to do.
Catlett, a junior outside hitter for the Mountain Lions (9-10, 5-5 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) leads the team in kills, averaging just under four per game this season.She is also leading the team in service aces, and has the second most digs.
Catlett’s time away from volleyball is taken up with a variety of activities: swing and line dancing, in-season class studying with color coded notecards, coaching for a local club volleyball team in the spring and caring for an Australian cattle dog puppy. “
What’s free time?” Catlett asked.
She got involved in volleyball through the oldest of adolescent influences: peer pressure. But this time, it was in the form of a sibling.
“My older sister played in high school, and I thought it was just the coolest thing,” Catlett said. “That’s what initially caught my eye.”
Catlett attended camps when she was in elementary school, then started her first league when she was in sixth grade.
Like a lot of athletes, she tried out other athletic opportunities along the way. Sports such as soccer, softball, basketball and track all came and went, including her senior year in high school when she “randomly decided” to take on tennis.
“Tennis sounded fun, and I was over track,” she said.
Catlett highlighted the outdoor opportunities of Colorado Springs (similar to those of her hometown Fort Collins), the volleyball coaching staff and the distance from home as reasons she chose to attend UCCS.
“It was close enough to go home if I wanted, but far enough so my parents couldn’t just drop in whenever,” said Catlett. “I didn’t want a skyscraper, big city type place.”
As in all sports, there can be some strange plays in volleyball. In a high school game, one of Catlett’s teammates went up and caught the ball – in mid play.
“No one else was on that page at all,” said Catlett.
Catlett and the rest of the Mountain Lions will complete a three game road trip against Metro State, Colorado Mines and Regis Oct. 24, 25 and 28 before returning home for three games to complete the regular season.
Colorado Christian will come to Gallogly Events Center Oct. 31, game time is 7 p.m. Chadron State will visit on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m., and Black Hills State will be here on Nov. 8 for a 5 p.m. game.