MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kadye Fernholz is leaving volleyball in a better place than she found it.
Fernholz, a Miller native and former Rustler multi-sport standout, recently wrapped up her volleyball career at Kansas State and says nothing could have fully prepared her for the ride that playing at the Division I level gave her.
“At the beginning, it was a little intimidating,” Fernholz said. “The game was ten times faster, especially as a middle blocker, going pin to pin. I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know about volleyball.”
Which is not to say Fernholz lacked talent or intellect. Far from it, actually. An all-state selection throughout her high school career and an Academic All-Big XII honoree every year at K-State, Fernholz had all the tools she needed to be successful.
What she needed was time to put them all together. One of the biggest transitions Fernholz had to make was training her eyes to see what was coming, she said.
“I had to learn to stare at the setter to see her tendencies to see where she was going to set the ball,” Fernholz said, adding that she also needed to make quicker decisions when it came to getting up on the block. “At this level, when you don’t have two blockers up, it’s not a good thing.”
Time and repetition, then, became her tutors.
“I definitely had to learn a lot coming in (to K-State),” she said.
So learn she did. So well, in fact, that Fernholz was thrust into the starting lineup as a freshman for the Wildcats’ season-opener.
“My heart just started racing,” Fernholz recalled. “I did not expect that at all.”
And so began a career that has seen its ups and downs, but has also handed out its rewards along the way, perhaps none moreso than in her final season.
Despite battling some nagging injuries, Fernholz said her senior campaign proved to be the perfect cap to her career.
“This last year has been overall the best year yet,” she said.
Behind a new coaching staff and some experienced players, the Wildcats pulled off five wins over Top 25 programs. K-State also notched wins over teams like Texas and Baylor for the first time in Fernholz’s career.
Plus, the Wildcats moved into a new facility this season after playing their home matches inside Bramlage Coliseum (home of the men’s and women’s basketball programs) the previous three. The Morgan Family Arena gave the volleyball program a more intimate setting for their home contests and sold out nearly every one of them.
“This thing we’ve built here is starting to click and be pretty amazing,” Fernholz said, “with the teams we’ve been beating. We’re finally going in the right direction. It’s very special that my class was the first to play in this building. I’m really proud of that.”
Naturally, the thrill of christening a new arena also bears the emotions of leaving it for the final time. For Fernholz, that moment was bittersweet.
“It was really emotional,” she said. “I knew senior night was coming but not as fast as it did. To step off the court for the last time there, it was super emotional. I’m glad I got to play there, but wish it was longer.”
Still, Fernholz can’t help but feel like she’s leaving the program in a better place.
“I don’t think many people followed along with us,” she said of her early days with the Wildcats. They didn’t know where we were or where we played. Seeing the crowd attendance from the first game (as a freshman) to now, shows us that people actually do care.”
Fernholz has the same sort of sentiment about the sport of volleyball as a whole, referencing the University of Nebraska and its record-setting match earlier in the season that drew more than 92,000 people in attendance.
“People are starting to realize that this is a fun sport,” she said. “And that it takes a lot of hard work. It’s a rewarding feeling. You’ve put work and time, sweat and tears into this sport and people are finally seeing the sport in general.“
Fernholz said she plans to complete her degree in elementary education and return to her home state with an eye toward both teaching and coaching.
