Senior Brooklyn Kimberling has just wrapped up her final La Salle volleyball season and soon, her last year at La Salle, but she is excited for what is to come.
Kimberling played on the La Salle varsity volleyball team, where she played outside — the front row hitter on the left side — and DS, the defensive specialist. A defensive specialist plays and will sub in for others who play in the back row.
Her volleyball career began in the third grade, playing through CYO at Holy Family Catholic School. The inspiration for playing came from her sister and her interest “in playing [and] getting to know every sport,” Kimberling said.
To Kimberling her senior season was “a rollercoaster of emotions … but overall, it was a good experience.” Her favorite memory of the season was the bus rides when the team traveled together. The trips sometimes spanned over an hour, yet the team still found ways to have fun by talking with one another or blasting music to bring the team energy up.
Kimberling feels that she has gained many things from being on the volleyball team, naming the qualities of “how to be responsible with schoolwork” and “general coachability,” as a few key lessons. She believes those qualities have applied to her academics as well.
Maintaining that balance between sports and school “can become a difficulty sometimes, but it’s one of those things where you just have to deal with it,” Kimberling said. As a student-athlete, she is compelled to rise to the occasion and learn to plan everything out.
Kimberling advises younger athletes considering high school sports “to know what you’re getting into, to know that it is a big responsibility, but that it is fun,” she said. She also notes that no matter what level of team you’re on, it will always be a good time because “you’re always going to have your team [and] you’re always going to have fun,” she said.
Kimberling says that throughout the volleyball program everyone supports each other by staying to watch every team’s games, along with the fact that in the past, they have had program bonding. Despite the different team levels, there is still a strong bond throughout the program.
Attending La Salle was always a consideration for Kimberling. Her sister and some family friends attended La Salle, and “since I’ve always gone to Christ the King Catholic School, it was always just next door,” Kimberling said.
Kimberling’s current favorite class is Anatomy and Physiology, as “it’s been one of the only classes that I could choose something for my future,” she said.
Outside of volleyball and school, Kimberling is part of a volunteer group of mothers and daughters who work together to help at different community volunteer events, such as helping clean books and taking donations at the local library.
Kimberling’s feelings about the future are a mixture of both scared and excited. “I’m scared just because I don’t know what I’m going to do … [but] I’m excited to see what I’m able to succeed in outside of La Salle,” Kimberling said.
