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WAYNE - After patiently waiting and learning for her first two seasons at Wayne State, former Cedar Catholic star athlete, Laney Kathol is seeing her patience and hard work come to fruition this fall being one of the top three contenders for two spots in the middle of head coach Scott Kneifl’s volleyball team.
Kathol, the junior daughter of Matt and Susan Kathol, spent her first couple of seasons on the Wildcat bench, although finding the court from time-to-time for a rotation or two, including a match in front of over 90,000 fans when her team played the University of Nebraska-Kearney at Memorial Stadium at Volleyball Day in Nebraska.
“We knew what we had when we recruited Laney,” said Kneifl. “She’s the kind of player we like to have and she was in our own back yard. Very athletic, hard working, great teammate, she was just behind a couple of two-time All-Americans.”
And who better to learn the ropes of college volleyball from than a couple of All-Americans?
“I learned so much from Maggie (Brahmer) and Taya (Beller) about how to play at this level,” said Kathol. “They were great role models on and off the court and were always encouraging us to keep working hard and our turn would come.”
Brahmer and Beller arrived on campus at the same time and found the court in the middle of Wayne State’s offense and defense for the past five years and both were tabbed All-American for the last two seasons.
Both graduated after last year, so that time is now for Kathol and company.
“It’s our turn to put our stamp on this program,” said Kathol. “We’ve been waiting for this opportunity and I feel like I’m ready for the challenge and we have a lot of great players coming back, this should be a fun year.”
Her coach agreed. “She’s put in the work and she has the talent,” Kneifl said. “She just needs to get out there and show everyone what we already know. We have the same goals this year as we do every year, get to the national tournament and win it.”
The Wildcats will be on the road for their first 10 or 11 matches before a home date with Augustana University on Sept. 23 at Rice Auditorium.
