Yuri Sendzimir/The Mirror
Kara Reis looked up at the old red banner on the far left at Alumni Hall, reserved for only the best players of the once-dominant Fairfield Volleyball program.
She reflected back, “I made that my goal. If I do one thing for my team, I definitely want to get 1,000 and get up on that banner.”
Reis is only a junior and she has already accomplished that goal. She became the 10th Stag to reach 1,000 digs when recording the defensive milestone for the program during Saturday’s win against Canisius.
“Getting a thousand digs is really cool, but I definitely want to keep working hard this season and next season and try to get the record,” Reis said.
The libero (volleyball defensive specialist) tallied 39 digs over the weekend to help her team split two matches against the top two teams in the MAAC.
Reis’ game is different from the others. She’s not the most noticeable player on the court, or the flashiest.
But it wasn’t those qualities that have led Kara Reis on a pace to break Lindsey Lee’s record of 1,674 digs. She is a hustler, going after every ball with the same consistency that molds her performance.
“Having someone who is consistent and you know what you’re going to get from that player every single day is awesome,” coach Alijia Pittenger said.
This is especially the case for a young team. The current Stags roster compiles five freshmen; the stability and liveliness of Reis could be the leadership role that they are looking for.
“She’s always there, you always know where she’s going to be, she’s always talking to you, always trying to pick you up. You can always lean on her when you’re down,” said freshman player Camille Coffey.
“Kara is great energy on the team. She always has that positive vibe and she talks to everybody, [and] keeps everybody up when we’re down,” Pittenger added.
It’s that reliable and spirited play that has led Reis in her progress over her first three years.
Add an exceptional volleyball IQ, and you have the potential for great success; a word that Reis has been exposed to her whole life. Her mother, Lisa, is the all-time winningest women’s volleyball coach in San Diego County history, amassing 11 titles.
“My mom [is] an amazing person, an amazing coach. She’s been my coach a couple of times and I think working with her has really pushed me mentally and physically,” Reis said. “She’s just someone I look up to all around.”
All that tutelage is paying off. Right after she recorded the milestone, Reis knew who she wanted to thank.
“I plan on calling her right now… I’m probably going to start off screaming and being really excited and then I’ll talk to my dad and both of them are going to be really proud of me.”
Now she’s on the list and the only place to go is up. With a year and a half remaining in her career, she is on pace to break the record of 1,674 that was set in 2007.
“I would be really, really honored to go down into Fairfield history for at least a year after I graduate, I think it’d be really cool to get the most digs,” Reis concluded.
In a couple of years when Kara Reis walks into Alumni Hall and stares above the white benches and glares at that old red banner on the far left that she has seen for years, she can dig into that cheerful, high-spirited personality she can let out a smile.
Because by then, she just might be number one.
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