Lake Central senior Katelyn Ruse lined up at outside hitter on Tuesday night.
Less than two years ago, she would’ve thought that wasn’t possible.
“I’d never been a hitter in my entire life,” Ruse said. “I was always a passer. I never even considered myself as being able to hit.”
Yet, there she was, chipping in five kills and a team-high six aces during Lake Central’s 25-18, 25-20, 25-19 Duneland Athletic Conference win at home against Valparaiso.
Along with Ruse, senior outside hitters Katia Nikolic (9 kills), Brianne Salinas (7 kills) and Mila Petkovic (5 kills) gave Lake Central (4-3, 1-0) a potent attack. Valparaiso (3-1, 0-1) was led by Mississippi recruit Kennedy Wagner, who had 11 kills and 10 digs.
The 5-foot-9 Ruse said she never expected to be part of that offense, especially when she entered high school as a 5-2 libero. But a growth spurt before her junior year helped and led coach Naveed Nizam to try something different at the Plainfield North Invitational in Illinois last August.
In one moment during that weekend tournament, Ruse’s entire perspective changed.
“I went up for a swing, and it was a really good hit, straight down for a kill,” she said. “And I’d never done that before, never had a really good kill like that.”
Nizam said Ruse’s growth wasn’t the only reason he put her at outside hitter.
“She’s got a passion for the game, but she’s a good softball player, too, and has a cannon of an arm,” Nizam said. “So that made for an easier transition because of her arm.”
Although she won’t tower over any opponents, Ruse said she’s making up for that with an improved vertical leap and aggressiveness.
“I have to swing as hard as I can, like I’m going to break their fingers,” she said.
After the match against Valparaiso, Ruse ranks fourth on the team with 41 kills and has a team-high 18 aces.
But unlike hitting, serving isn’t a new skill for Ruse. She said her preferred method is the “float” serve, which flies over the net with no spin, resulting in a knuckleball effect.
“It’s harder to anticipate because you don’t know where the ball is going,” she said. “And when I know I’m on with my serves, I keep being aggressive.”
Nikolic leads Lake Central’s multipronged attack with 46 kills, but Petkovic (43 kills) and Salinas (42 kills) aren’t far behind.
The task of spreading the ball around to all those hitters falls on the duo of senior setter Adeline Drake and junior setter Milica Tomic.
“It makes the job a lot easier when you have a lot of options,” Tomic said. “Especially when we’re playing against good teams that have good blockers all over the court, it’s good to know that each of our hitters are strong.”
That combination of hitters and setters gives Nizam a team that can strike from any angle.
“We’re very balanced, which means that we can attack from anywhere on the court and not miss a beat,” he said.
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.