Montrose - Daily Press

MONTROSE�”When Western State College came calling for MHS volleyball player Kelsie Dardis, it didn’t take long for the senior middle hitter to give an answer.

Dardis signed her letter of intent to join the Mountaineers volleyball team as a middle hitter.

For Dardis it came down to two schools, with Mesa State being the other. Dardis eventually toured the campus at Western State and saw first-hand how the team functions and what kind of direction it was headed in.

Kelsie Dardis, foreground, signs a letter of intent to play at volleyball at Western State Tuesday afternoon. MHS head volleyball coach Shane Forrest, standing left, and assistant coach Heidi Voehringer, along with Dardis's parents, Gina,left, and Dwane, were on hand to show their support. (Joel Blocker/Daily Press) Advertisement

“After I put in my recruitment forms to Western, they came back and said they could really use a middle blocker,” she said. “I really liked what I saw and definitely thought that Western State would be a good fit me.”

Dardis, who’s played varsity since she was a sophomore, was selected to the second team all-conference for 4A for the second year in a row as a middle hitter this season. She led the team in blocks with 48 and also had a team high 46 aces. Dardis recored 279 kills, while recording a 27 percent hitting percentage as a senior. She also had 67 digs on the year.

“She really came into her own as a sophomore during the state tournament,” MHS head coach Shane Forrest said. “All the players and coaches including myself really began to take notice that she could play.”

Forrest said the transition from high school to college can be pretty significant. She said the speed of the game is faster and the expectation from the college programs are always higher. Forrest added that Dardis has

grown in her three years as a varsity player and that those kinds of commitments shouldn’t cause any problems for Dardis.

“Kelsie has really grown into a quite leader,” Forrest said. “Her confidence level is only going to continue to grow and that will only help her at the college level.”

As for Dardis, she said she was excited about the signing and knows that there is still plenty of work to before she steps on campus next fall.

“I know that the college level is going to be a more competitive,” she said. “If I just keep working on blocking and hitting along with the basics, I’ll be fine.”

Comments

Cody Olivas wrote on Nov 19, 2009 8:48 AM:

" Awesome. Western rocks "




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