Bourbonnais, Ill – In this edition of the 'Athlete Spotlight' we highlighted women's volleyball seniors Becca Bell and Katarina Nikolic.
With every athlete that comes through Olivet, each one of them has a special background story of how they got involved in sports. Becca's story was amazing. She stated that, "I started playing travel softball when I was nine years old, feeder team basketball when I was in fourth grade, and then I started playing club volleyball in eighth grade. After my first club volleyball season, I decided playing college volleyball was an end goal of mine. Throughout high school, I played four years of volleyball, three years of basketball, and a season of track. Out of all the sports, I have played in the past, I enjoyed volleyball the most because you truly need to work with every player on the court to find success and I enjoy the fast pace of the game."
We also asked Becca what made her choose Olivet. She told us that, "I have never been on a team that is Christ centered in my years of playing sports until I came to play for Olivet. It has really changed the game for me because we are using our skills and talents. We have been gifted to glorify Him and we also serve each other on the court. For example, the backrow is trying to receive a great pass for the setter to setup for a hit. Then the hitter swings hard and strategically hopes of earning a kill. This is rewarding the defensive player and setter for their efforts. It is also a burden lifted off our shoulders as Christian athletes because we do not put our identity in volleyball. We are followers of Christ first."
Becca's has a well-established plan after Graduation. Bell's plan is to move on and to complete her Master's degree and an 1,200 hour internship to continue her education and meet requirements to sit in for the RD exam.
The final question we asked is what advice they would give to prospective student-athletes at Olivet. Becca told us, "I would say to never take any practice, match, or season for granted because each day we make a conscious choice of how we show up to the gym. If you come in focused, willing to leave everything on the court, and ready to pour into others despite whatever has happened in your day you will find success and will have no regrets for all your effort and energy put in."
Every athlete that finds their way into sports always has a different story. Katarina's story of how she got into sports was one we do not hear very often. Katarina's father was a soccer coach and she fell in love with sports after attending practices.
Every athlete has a different way they found Olivet. Katarina first attended a junior college and wanted to further her education by obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Engineering. She started to email a bunch of schools that had Engineering programs and she found she could play women's volleyball and receive her degree here at ONU.
One of the questions we like to ask every student-athlete here at Olivet is what makes their program stand out from others. Katarina told us " That unity and how they care about us as human beings, about our beliefs and the relationship with Christ is how the program stands out from others." This shows us how Olivet brings our athletes here to be be the best athletes possible so that we can grow in their faith.
Another question we like to ask is what the athletes will do post-graduation. Katarina's post-graduation plans are, "I would love to stay in the US. I am just in between deciding if I want to pursue a Master's degree, while trying and play or coach. Also, I want to start looking for engineering jobs and focus on that new chapter. At the moment, I am unsure of the direction I am headed to next year, but I love the uncertainty and new adventures. I am sure next year will be full of it."
The final question we like to ask our Student-Athletes here is what advice they would give to prospective student-athletes. Katarina's advice for prospective athletes looking to come here was, "Go easy on yourself, and have fun! Pay attention to people and things around you, because college experience will be done sooner than you think and you want to make as many good memories as you can!"
We wish Becca and Katarina nothing but the best in their future endeavors. We will miss seeing these two out on that court.
--ONU--
Contact: Ryan Jemar, Sports Information Director Intern, rjemar@olivet.edu