CourtIllinois State has made a big splash in the transfer market with the addition of former Northern Illinois outside hitter Kaylee Martin. A 5’9″ outside hitter, Martin will be a sophomore in the fall of 2018 with three years left of play and is immediately eligible.
Martin comes to Illinois State with a list of awards and accolades from her lone season of collegiate volleyball thus far. In 2017 she went on to earn MAC Volleyball All-Freshman Team honors and was a member of the All-MAC First-Team.
A native of Sterling, Illinois, Martin was a second-team all-state performer at Sterling High School. That led her to Northern Illinois where she appeared in 30 matches and 107 sets as a true freshman, logging 404 kills (3.78 per set) on a .196 mark, 248 digs (2.32 per set), 41 blocks (0.38 per set) and 16 aces (0.15 per set). She was not only the leader in kills and kills per set for the Huskies, but also ranked third in kps in the MAC.
“We are excited to have Kaylee join our program,” Illinois State head coach Leah Johnson said in the team’s release of the news. “Kaylee matches our court, classroom and program culture at ISU. She is a high-character young woman and will fully exemplify what it means to be a Redbird student-athlete. She can attack with power and range, and has the skill set to compete as a six-rotation athlete.”
Illinois State is coming off of a 22-13 season in which they went 13-5 as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. They also made the postseason NIVC Tournament and won a match to advance to its second round. Their 2018 roster features a trio of players returning who can play outside hitter to join Martin, as the Red Birds look for another strong season in the fall.
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