By Lauren Nelson
When you are 6’3 “and 14 years old, it can have significant advantages. For freshman Kari Knotts, one of them is being in the top 3 in America for volleyball.
Not only is it Kari’s first year at Lovett playing volleyball, but it’s also her first year at Lovett. Fortunately, things have gone well so far. “It’s been good meeting everyone,” she said, “and I’ve made really close friends on the team.”
So far, the Lovett Varsity volleyball team is undefeated, at 8-0. Kari dominates as an outside hitter and has had great success on the team so far. According to X-max preps, “She has made a total of 65 kills in an 8-game time frame.” Her killer hits and consistency have been one of the many reasons volleyball has excelled this season.
For Kari, volleyball served as an opportunity for her to make connections at Lovett before school even started. She attended clinics, preseason practice, and new family events. “It was a lot easier coming into a new school and having at least a little familiarity with a few people,” she said
This summer, Kari was picked to play on the U19 USA team. The majority of her teammates were 4 years older than her, which, you can imagine, must have been intimidating for her.
The tryout process for the U19 USA Team was a week in Colorado Springs at the Olympic Training Center. On the last day, the team received its results through a WhatsApp group chat. “I was looking for my name, and it wasn’t there at first,” she recalled. Luckily, she saw it at the top. “I immediately called my parents to celebrate. I was crying happy tears the whole time,” she told me.
On Team USA, Kari played for the Pan American Cup. The team played Venezuela, Mexico, and Puerto Rico before defeating Mexico again in the finals, winning the Pan American Cup.
Team USA dominated the court with an incredible team. Kari had nineteen kills, two blocks, and three aces in the 3-0 win in the finals against Mexico. Her hard work on the team led her to win MVP and best spiker on Team USA as a 14-year-old.
Being on a U17 team as a 14-year-old definitely turned some heads. In Kari’s case, it was the University of Nebraska, which has quite a reputation for volleyball. The team has made it to the NCAA semi-finals 11 times and won the championship 5 times. They’ve had many well-known players, such as Harper Murray and Lexi Rodriguez.
Kari was one of the few girls who were invited to Nebraska’s U17 Dream Team camp this summer. The camp focused on immersing players in Nebraska’s competitive environment, putting them into the mix with top players at Nebraska and the team’s new coach, Dani Kelly. .
As one of the younger players on the team, Kari said, “It was a great experience.”
Kari’s impressive volleyball experience has attracted attention throughout the years; she now has over 20K followers on Instagram. Her most viewed video has gotten millions of views and likes. Her social media popularity has allowed her name to become more recognizable around the country, especially in Atlanta.
In fact, at the recent Westminster game, “a couple of girls wanted to meet me,” she said. Kari called it a surreal experience.
Obviously, with her deep commitment to Volleyball, she enjoys the little breaks she gets when she’s off the court. For the 4th of July, her family went to Canada to celebrate the holiday. Throughout the summer, she went to the pool and hung out with her friends. No need for killer hits there!
