If at first you don’t succeed…. – this was certainly not the first thought that Katrina Hickey had when she left midway through her initial volleyball tryout in Grade 7, completely discouraged with her inability to even serve to the other side of the net.

Fast forward four years ahead and Hickey is not only a key piece of a very strong volleyball program at Marymount Academy but also one of the primary building stones of the Northern Chill U-16 success of 2005-06.

It took a little encouragement from Grade 7 coach Tammy Jutila and plenty of perseverance, but Hickey now ranks as one of the top setters in the city. And she sees the reasons for her development as being fairly straight-forward.

“I went out for the volleyball team initially because I really liked getting involved”, said the 15 year old who fine-tuned her competitiveness through a lengthy dancing career in her youth. “Gradually, the more touches you get on the ball, the more confident you become.”

And almost since the beginning of her introduction to volleyball, Hickey as been side by side with close friend and teammate Allison Adams. “We’re a package deal now”, she laughs. “She was way better than me when we started…she really pushed me to work hard and improve.”

As the pair began their secondary school years, Hickey realized a decision had to be made. “It was getting really hard balancing both my dancing and volleyball and this was the stage where I really was in love with volleyball. In the end, it was definitely worth it”, she says of her choice to concentrate solely on the court sport.

From her debut as a Regal in Grade 9, Hickey and company achieved some impressive results, capturing NOSSA, but not the city championship, as she is quick to remind us. Her sophomore year brought even more success although it’s clear in chatting with the outgoing teenager that she looks forward to the challenge that lies ahead as the team moves to the senior level.

And as to her role on that team? “I get a lot of satisfaction from our team success and seeing us reach a certain goal…setter is not really a glory position”, she admits. In fact, Hickey believes the positive energy and enthusiasm she brings to the game are by far her biggest attributes. And they are definitely contagious, much to the delight of her Marymount Regal teammates.
 

Katrina Hickey, Marymount Regals
 

“I went out for the volleyball team initially because I really liked getting involved... Gradually, the more touches you get on the ball, the more confident you become.”