HICKORY, N.C. — After one season with the Catawba Valley Community College volleyball program, freshman defensive specialist Kara Williams is moving on to the next level.
Williams signing her National Letter of Intent with Montreat College during a special ceremony held in the Tarlton Complex on Tuesday.
"It's pretty exciting," Williams said of signing. "It's good to know that all the time and effort that I've put into it so far has finally gotten me to be able to go to a higher level and pursue volleyball like I've always wanted to."
A late add to the Catawba Valley volleyball roster this past fall after transferring from Guilford College, Williams was a stalwart from her defensive specialist position, tallying 270 digs (2.29 per set).
Williams, along with her sister Emily and teammate Katie Rupp, anchored the back row for the Red Hawks this past fall, helping the team go 28-9 overall and 15-0 in conference games. CVCC also won its sixth-straight Region X championship.
CVCC head volleyball coach Shannon Hudson said Kara has been an asset to her program.
"Her ball control has been phenomenal. We've really enjoyed that," Hudson said. "Her defense, speed and agility have all been great attributes that we've enjoyed. We are definitely going to miss that. Her serving game has been really strong this spring. That's another one of the things that we'll definitely miss next year. She's just been a great player for us, and we are excited to see her move on to the next level."
Kara said playing volleyball at CVCC has helped her develop into a better player.
"It's definitely been a good experience keeping me in the gym, upping my game, pushing me and just improving all of my skills to be able to even play at a higher level," Williams said."
Williams becomes the 23rd Red Hawk volleyball player in program history to sign to continue her playing career with a four-year school.
"We tell the girls coming in that we want to help them move on to the next level, if that's what they want to do," Hudson said. "We have some players who come here to do one of our two-year programs or they might just want to play two years and be done. For the ones that want to move on and continue playing, it's one of our goals is to help them find that right fit for them. So we are really excited for Kara and for the other players who have moved on."