'We love the Big 12': Set for WVU, Norman North's Katie Kolar follows family's unique path

NORMAN — Katie Kolar sent 90 emails and waited.

A couple of weeks later, she tried again, not expecting a response. Because of NCAA restrictions, it was too early in her career for Division I volleyball coaches to contact her.

But nothing stopped the Norman North setter from reaching out to them.

So, during her busy spring as a high school sophomore and club volleyball player, Kolar squeezed in time for creating and sharing highlight videos, taking the initiative of a savvy entrepreneur giving her elevator pitch to any potential investor who would listen.

“I knew early on what I wanted,” Katie said, “and then I learned as much as I could and then applied it when I needed to.”

Self-motivation rewarded her.

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Heading into the final weeks of this high school volleyball season, the senior setter has established herself as one of the best volleyball players in the state, and college coaches have noticed. The summer after her sophomore year, once they could start communicating with her, she received an offer from West Virginia and committed.

Kolar listed the factors that drew her to the school: the welcoming coaching staff, the picturesque scenery, a good experience at a summer camp.

And one more reason.

“Oh, we love the Big 12,” she said.

She’s putting her own spin on a family trend.

The Kolars have become known for raising Division I athletes, and the pipeline leads to one conference.

Oldest brother John started his college football career at Oklahoma State. Then he transferred to Iowa State and joined the next brother in line, Charlie, now a tight end for the Baltimore Ravens.

Parents Maria and Randy are no rookies in the turbulent process of college recruiting, yet they had no blueprint for their daughter’s path.

“It’s so totally different,” Maria said. “This is totally sort of athlete-driven.”

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The glowing reputation surrounding the Kolar name in football didn’t give Katie a key to the volleyball world. This was its own sport with its own recruiting calendar, and her volleyball coaching staffs, though supportive, were considerably smaller than her brothers’ networks of football coaches who could help prospects get noticed.

Katie had to make a name for herself.

She recognized her obstacles as a 5-foot-9 recruit in Oklahoma, a state that has several Division I recruits but isn’t known as a volleyball hotbed. In a random group of peers, Katie might appear somewhat tall, but that wasn’t the case when she walked into gyms for tournaments and found herself among many athletes standing above 6 feet.

How would she set herself apart?

“For her, things that are unique about her are that she’s left-handed, that she’s super athletic, and that she’s a worker,” Maria said. “The fact that she’s willing to put in the extra time is part of who she is as an athlete and a person. … She realized that it’s gonna take extra effort.”

Maria saw that extra effort.

With help from the Hudl app, Katie spliced and rearranged eight-second video clips, picking the ones that showcased different sides of her game.

Serving. Defending. And, of course, setting, her strongest skill.

Then she distributed her highlight reel to college coaches across the nation, working toward the dream that she shared with her mother.

“It is super special for me to see her get this opportunity because it was something I wanted so much myself,” Maria said.

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She laughed. “I don’t have any favorite children, but I have a favorite sport.”

As Maria and Katie sat side by side in their home, their faces glowed when they explained why they love volleyball.

The team celebrations after scoring each point. The steady reassurance after giving one up.

Much like their curly brunette locks, their passion for the game is a common trait as strong as the family’s football tradition.

Growing up in Iowa, Maria aspired to play volleyball at Notre Dame. She garnered attention as a recruit and was one of six freshmen who planned to join the team.

Only two scholarships were available.

Maria did not receive one, but she chose to walk on during her first year of college. Although she eventually stopped playing to focus on academics, her love for volleyball remained.

It’s the reason the Kolar family exists. As Notre Dame students, she and Randy met playing volleyball recreationally, gathering with friends on grass and sand courts during the summer.

Now, the Kolars have five children – John, Charlie, Sam, Katie and Ben – and the only daughter is carrying on Maria’s athletic ambitions.

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“She’s the one that really got me into volleyball, because she just loved it so much,” Katie said.

The whole family has influenced Katie as an athlete and person. Katie is invested in academics, looking to the examples of Charlie and Sam, who were National Merit Scholars.

She has also realized anything can turn into a competition. Growing up, she and her brothers would have eating contests. They would race each other to the pool. And in the Kolar household, board games might as well be an NCAA sport.

Katie’s siblings instilled competitiveness in her at a young age, but she had to learn patience. After starting school volleyball in sixth grade, she played on a club team that had a rough start.

“I think we won one set the entire season,” Katie said.

She stuck with the sport, and the wins came. As a teenager, she expanded her game at Norman North High School and with various club teams, most recently Oklahoma Peak.

Norman North coach Faith Avalos was familiar with Katie’s talents early. Previously an assistant at Central Oklahoma, Avalos watched Katie while scouting for recruits. Since then, the senior setter has continued to impress.

“It’s just her determination,” Avalos said. “I think she knows her worth and knows her potential and is able to really – not accept it at where it is now because she always sets herself at a higher standard than she’s at. But believe in herself and know where she wants to go, and she did all that work.

“Having to really advocate for herself, that’s just knowing your worth, and she knows her worth.”

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After regularly reminding Division I coaches of her talents, Katie finally had an opportunity to show them in person. On the final day of her camp at West Virginia, the rising junior received her offer from coach Reed Sunahara and his staff.

It’s taken some pressure off her senior year. Her college plans are set. She’s already proven herself.

And after her time at Norman North, she will pack up and head to Morgantown.

Randy and Maria – professors at OU and Oklahoma City University, respectively – know they will have to adjust to the distance. Although they grew accustomed to traveling when John and Charlie played at Iowa State, Norman to Ames was a reasonable road trip.

“West Virginia is a totally different deal,” Maria said. “We call that two flights and a drive.”

Katie said she knows she will have to adapt, too, but West Virginia feels like home – plus, she’s moving closer to Charlie in Baltimore.

The Big 12 pattern continues for the Kolars.

Katie is just doing it her own way.

“We love it,” Maria said. “It continues our tradition of having kids play for non-OU Big 12 teams. It seems to just keep happening that way, which has been a lot of fun for us.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma HS volleyball: Katie Kolar forges path to West Virginia