Katelynn Schooley, volleyball
Katelynn Schooley has been a part of the volleyball program at Carmichaels since coach Ashley Shoemaker became coach.
She returns as the team鈥檚 setter and is captain of the team. Schooley also hopes to play volleyball in college, but won鈥檛 let her favorite sport interfere with her life plan.
Schooley carries a 3.96 grade-point average at Carmichaels and plans to study biomedical engineering at Gannon University in hopes of becoming a doctor.
鈥淚 would like to play in college, but if I don鈥檛, I鈥檓 not going to be discouraged because I鈥檓 going into a really hard field,鈥� she said.
She has been selected as Carmichaels鈥� fall sports female selection in the Centennial Chevrolet Scholar/Athlete Spotlight program. Schooley, daughter of James and Brandy Schooley of Carmichaels, has one brother, Peyton, who is in fifth grade at Carmichaels.
鈥淚 plan on becoming a doctor,鈥� Schooley said. 鈥淚 visited Gannon and they didn鈥檛 have a straight med program, just to go to med school, so I chose biomedical engineering because it will help me with the medical part and I like math, too, so there is a lot of math in this program.
鈥淐alculus is my favorite subject, but I got interested in medicine through my uncle, Dr. Brent Lechner. He鈥檚 a pediatric nephrologist (kidney specialist) and he actually went to Afghanistan through the military to help some of the young kids over there. That really interests me and I鈥檇 like to pursue it. He lives and works in Washington, D.C., at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He really showed me that you can be whatever you want to be.鈥�
So, too, has Shoemaker shown Schooley how to achieve whatever you set out to achieve.
鈥淲e just weren鈥檛 good until Mrs. Shoemaker came here,鈥� Schooley said. 鈥淪he started coaching when I was in sixth grade, so my grade of girls is the first to go all the way through her program and it really made us better. She thinks that this year is our best chance of clinching section.
鈥淚 started playing year-round in seventh grade and it has made me better. It has helped make all of us better. It feels really good to be a part of something like this. Even all of the students enjoy coming to our games to watch us and are really supportive. Just knowing that other teams used to underestimate us and now we are a big threat to them makes you feel really good.鈥�
Schooley knows that for the team to be successful, she, as the setter, will have to play a big part in that success.
鈥淚 like that volleyball is not too physical and that you have to be good at offense and defense. I鈥檓 the setter and I鈥檓 the captain of our team. If you don鈥檛 have a good set, the hitters on our team are never going to be able to kill the ball,鈥� Schooley said. 鈥淔irst, you need a good pass, then you have to know where to put the ball on a set.鈥�
Shoemaker, without a doubt, has had the greatest influence on Schooley as an athlete.
鈥淪he has had a tremendous influence on me as an athlete,鈥� Schooley said of her coach. 鈥淪he always pushes you to do your best and she just makes you know that you can get to any ball that you want to and do whatever you want.鈥�