Humboldt High senior Karley Wools was instrumental in leading the Lady Cubs to a stellar volleyball season. The Cubs won the Tri-Valley League and scored 30 victories.
Wools has been a part of the volleyball team at Humboldt since she was a freshman and made quite the mark in her senior season, leading the team with 158 kills. She also knocked 5.9 kills per set and was second in hitting percentage, a 0.111 mark.
The senior was one of the top offensive players in the Tri-Valley League but also prided herself on defense. Wools stood second on the team this past fall with 14 total blocks.
“I’m very committed to the sport and the team,” said Wools. “I would say passing is one of my better skills and then hitting but it depends on the day. Offensively, I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Kenisyn (Hottenstein), our setter, for getting the set up and then me just being able to make contact and practicing it over and over again.”
The Humboldt native puts her teammates before herself every time on the court because she realizes how much of a team sport volleyball is. If there was nobody to set the ball up, Wools wouldn’t be able to make a smashing hit to give her team an advantage.
If there was no defensive backline to set up a play, Wools and her teammates wouldn’t be able to score on the opposing team.
“To me it’s about the team. I’m passionate about sports but just the team bonding and getting close with everyone and being able to play together means the most to me,” said Wools. “Volleyball is a team sport, you can’t do it all by yourself.”
The Lady Cubs finished their season with a 30-6 overall record. Humboldt was solid all around offensively, ripping 9.3 kills per set, almost a whole kill higher than the national average of kills per set.
Wools was also a threat at the serving line, serving as one of the leaders on Humboldt with 37 aces and 1.4 ace serves per set.
When asked how her teammates would describe her, Wools replied: “As a leader. I was a team captain and they definitely looked up to me. I was always the one encouraging the girls to work harder.”
Karley credited her two older sisters as an inspiration. Kelci Sigg set a school record for most points scored in basketball and played softball at Allen Community College.
A multi-sport athlete, Wools said she enjoys volleyball the most compared to basketball and softball.
“It felt nice to go out with a good team. We had a lot of team bonding outside of school with team dinners and stuff which really helped. We really worked well together.”
Wools is planning on attending Pittsburg State in the fall and will major in biology. She is not planning on playing collegiate sports and is looking forward to a new challenge in college.
“I’m more committed to my studies and want to focus on that,” said Wools. “It definitely will be challenging.”
