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Faces of Blue Devil Volleyball: Kellie Catanach
4/24/2020 12:07:00 PM | Volleyball
Faces of Blue Devil Volleyball: Kellie Catanach
DURHAM, N.C. – Assistant coach Kellie Catanach joined the Blue Devil volleyball staff last summer and made an immediate impact on the program.
"I genuinely believe that my experience with Duke volleyball played an important role in shaping who I've become and I could go on and on about how or why (but I won't!)," Catanach said. "Ultimately, it brought me a greater appreciation for different perspectives, a deeper understanding of others, and provided me a space to grow as a person. Most importantly, I learned that it is 100% okay to be your authentic self and to embrace who you are because the right people will love and support you."
A four-year letter winner and three-time All-American, Catanach competed at Duke from 2008-11, receiving All-ACC recognition all four years of her college career and ACVA honors her final three seasons.
She helped the Duke volleyball squad to two ACC Championships in 2008 and 2010. The Blue Devils made NCAA Tournament appearances all four of her seasons, advancing to the second round in 2008 and the Round of Eight in 2010.
"Our 2010 season was full of so many big moments", Catanach said. "As a team, we overcame more adversity than I think even we realized at the time. We earned a top 16 tournament seed and had the chance to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament. Our second round match was against Ohio and it was randomly snowing in early December so we had one of the smallest crowds we'd had all year. It was such an emotional match with so many momentum changes, but we won in five sets. 15-12. I'll never forget the pure joy we felt when that last ball hit the ground. Coach has a giant picture of that moment in her office. Everything was a blur after - shaking hands, post game, the locker room celebration - but those feelings of joy and of pride are still so strong."
As a junior, Catanach was named the 2010 ACC Player of the Year, becoming the seventh Duke player to earn that honor. She ended her career ranked ninth on the ACC's all-time assists leaderboard, while also becoming the third Blue Devil to post at least 1,000 assists in all four seasons and serving as the team captain for her final two years.
During her ACC POY season, Catanach led the conference with 1,419 assists and 11.26 assists per set, including dishing 50 assists in a match eight different times. She added 12 double-doubles, added a career-high 29 service aces, totaled 98 kills, ranked third on the team with 76 blocks and fourth with 268 digs. She helped guide a balanced offense that saw five players total at least 250 kills and three break the 350-kill plateau. She was a constant on the floor for the squad, starting every match and playing in all but one set.
Above all else, Duke volleyball means family," Catanach said. "My teammates are one of the biggest reasons I came back to Duke to coach. When we had Alumni Weekend this fall, they showed up like an entire army … from places like California and New York and Michigan and even London. It meant so much to me to have them there; their support has been incredible. We celebrate each other's milestones, but also support each other through the hard days and the tough things. There's an unconditional love there that's hard to explain; it's a sisterhood. And each of us is so grateful to Coach for allowing us to have the chance to become part of that sisterhood. It's important to me that we recruit young women who understand that opportunity but also are willing to empower and invest in each other because it takes work to build. At the end of the day, I want them to know that no matter where life takes them, they have this family behind them. It's a forever thing."
Prior to her time in Bull City, Catanach was a standout high school player, as well. As a four-year letter winner out of Plant High School in Tampa, Fla., she was a 2007 Prep All-American selection, was named Gatorade State Player of the Year, St. Petersburg Times Player of the Year and was a finalist for PrepVolleyball's National Senior of the Year honor.
Catanach grew up around athletics as her dad, Chris Catanach, is the head volleyball coach at the University of Tampa and her mom, Linda Catanach, played volleyball and basketball at Tampa, as well.
"I have loved volleyball since I was old enough to talk," Catanach said. "My dad has been a coach at the University of Tampa for over 30 years. I remember finally being allowed to go to his camp when I was eight and being thrilled. And there were days when my sister and I had to go to the gym with him for practice after school and we would run around and shag balls and pepper on the side. Volleyball provided me with so many cool opportunities long before I actually got to Duke - chances to travel across the country and also overseas, opportunities to win two state championships, and most importantly, it has allowed me to build so many relationships that have helped shape who I've become."
#GoDuke
"I genuinely believe that my experience with Duke volleyball played an important role in shaping who I've become and I could go on and on about how or why (but I won't!)," Catanach said. "Ultimately, it brought me a greater appreciation for different perspectives, a deeper understanding of others, and provided me a space to grow as a person. Most importantly, I learned that it is 100% okay to be your authentic self and to embrace who you are because the right people will love and support you."
A four-year letter winner and three-time All-American, Catanach competed at Duke from 2008-11, receiving All-ACC recognition all four years of her college career and ACVA honors her final three seasons.
She helped the Duke volleyball squad to two ACC Championships in 2008 and 2010. The Blue Devils made NCAA Tournament appearances all four of her seasons, advancing to the second round in 2008 and the Round of Eight in 2010.
"Our 2010 season was full of so many big moments", Catanach said. "As a team, we overcame more adversity than I think even we realized at the time. We earned a top 16 tournament seed and had the chance to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament. Our second round match was against Ohio and it was randomly snowing in early December so we had one of the smallest crowds we'd had all year. It was such an emotional match with so many momentum changes, but we won in five sets. 15-12. I'll never forget the pure joy we felt when that last ball hit the ground. Coach has a giant picture of that moment in her office. Everything was a blur after - shaking hands, post game, the locker room celebration - but those feelings of joy and of pride are still so strong."
As a junior, Catanach was named the 2010 ACC Player of the Year, becoming the seventh Duke player to earn that honor. She ended her career ranked ninth on the ACC's all-time assists leaderboard, while also becoming the third Blue Devil to post at least 1,000 assists in all four seasons and serving as the team captain for her final two years.
During her ACC POY season, Catanach led the conference with 1,419 assists and 11.26 assists per set, including dishing 50 assists in a match eight different times. She added 12 double-doubles, added a career-high 29 service aces, totaled 98 kills, ranked third on the team with 76 blocks and fourth with 268 digs. She helped guide a balanced offense that saw five players total at least 250 kills and three break the 350-kill plateau. She was a constant on the floor for the squad, starting every match and playing in all but one set.
Above all else, Duke volleyball means family," Catanach said. "My teammates are one of the biggest reasons I came back to Duke to coach. When we had Alumni Weekend this fall, they showed up like an entire army … from places like California and New York and Michigan and even London. It meant so much to me to have them there; their support has been incredible. We celebrate each other's milestones, but also support each other through the hard days and the tough things. There's an unconditional love there that's hard to explain; it's a sisterhood. And each of us is so grateful to Coach for allowing us to have the chance to become part of that sisterhood. It's important to me that we recruit young women who understand that opportunity but also are willing to empower and invest in each other because it takes work to build. At the end of the day, I want them to know that no matter where life takes them, they have this family behind them. It's a forever thing."
Prior to her time in Bull City, Catanach was a standout high school player, as well. As a four-year letter winner out of Plant High School in Tampa, Fla., she was a 2007 Prep All-American selection, was named Gatorade State Player of the Year, St. Petersburg Times Player of the Year and was a finalist for PrepVolleyball's National Senior of the Year honor.
Catanach grew up around athletics as her dad, Chris Catanach, is the head volleyball coach at the University of Tampa and her mom, Linda Catanach, played volleyball and basketball at Tampa, as well.
"I have loved volleyball since I was old enough to talk," Catanach said. "My dad has been a coach at the University of Tampa for over 30 years. I remember finally being allowed to go to his camp when I was eight and being thrilled. And there were days when my sister and I had to go to the gym with him for practice after school and we would run around and shag balls and pepper on the side. Volleyball provided me with so many cool opportunities long before I actually got to Duke - chances to travel across the country and also overseas, opportunities to win two state championships, and most importantly, it has allowed me to build so many relationships that have helped shape who I've become."
#GoDuke
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