Kaitlin Leck signs with Washington Huskies

Some time during her freshman year at Carson High School, Kaitlin Leck decided she wanted to play volleyball in college.

Four years have passed, and on Thursday morning, Leck moved toward fulfilling her dream when she signed a volleyball national-letter-of-intent with the University of Washington. About a dozen friends, family members, coaches and school personnel were present at the school to watch as she committed to Washington during the NCAA's early signing period.

Leck, a four-year starter at Carson, was twice selected to all-conference honors. She was named first-team All-Northern 4A and Sierra League Player of the Year this season.

Four years ago, all of this was just a dream.

"In 8th grade, it was between soccer and volleyball, and I thought my height would go with volleyball more," said the 6-foot-1 left-hander, who was a varsity starter in each of her four years at Carson.

"To go from 8th grade to varsity was a big jump," she recalled. "but Daryl (James, Carson coach) helped me out.

"We weren't that great of a team at the beginning, but we gradually got up to that level. By our junior year, we got to state and then we just missed it this year. This was a good team. The girls did a good job stepping up from the J.V. and freshman teams. I was proud of them."

The Senators finished second in the Sierra League this fall, losing the title to Douglas in a showdown on the final night of the regular season. Then they lost out on a chance to go to state with a loss to Galena in the Northern 4A Regionals last Saturday.

"Kaitlin was the one who led us this year," James said. "She was our leader on the floor. She was our go-to player. And she's just so athletic; I saw her put some balls away that I don't know how she was able to get to the ball, let alone get a kill."

Athletic genes run in this family because two older brothers are currently involved with college programs - Austin has finished playing baseball at City College of San Mateo and is now at Division III power Chico State, while Matt is a walk-on red shirt freshman with University of Nevada football - so Kaitlin's success should come as no surprise.

"I hate to see her go. She's the type of kid you'd like to see show up in your program every year. She's had a lot to do with the direction our team took the last four years," James said.

"I think she's going to a good coach at Washington, a good overall program (Bill Neville)," James said. "He's been around the sport, he's worked with national teams in the past. He'll get everything out of Kaitlin that is possible."

Leck was one of two high school signees announced by Neville on Thursday. The other was 6-2 hitter Vanessa Gilliam of Fairfield, Calif., a member of the USA Volleyball Youth National Team.

"Kaitlin is a good ball-handler who is a very stable and steady player," Neville said. "She will come in right away and help strengthen our hitting corps."

Leck, who carries a 3.65 grade point average at Carson, is looking forward to her move to Seattle.

I'm excited and I just think it's going to be a lot of fun. I get to go to a big city, I really like my coaches, I get along with all the girls. And in the Pac-10, I get to play all my friends like Kellie Burton (Arizona), Jen Huecke (Stanford), Monica Meihack (Oregon State). I played with Kellie two years ago on my club team and I played with Jen was on my club team (Sierra Nevada) last year."

James is looking forward to following Leck's progress in the future.

"I don't think she's come close to reaching her ultimate level or using all of the ability she has," he said. "It's up to Kaitlin now as to how far she wants to go. She has a lot of ability; I just think in the next few years we're going to be hearing about Kaitlin Leck in the Washington volleyball program."