The decision to attend the PAC 10 school was a simple one for the 5-7 outside hitter, who visited the Pullman, Wash., university over the weekend.
“Once I make up my mind no , I’m not going to change it,” Kabalis said. “When I came here to visit, I visited Arizona Western afterwards and I stayed with my first visit. That is how I feel now because it is the same situation for me.”
Kabalis had a stellar career at WNCC as she was one of only nine players to tally over 1,000 kills for her career. She finished with 1,089 kills with 590 coming this season, and tallied 790 digs in two seasons.
“I think that I accomplished a lot and more than I expected,” she said. “The 1,000 kills really touched me because for someone that is 5-6 ½ they aren’t really suppose to do that.”
Kabalis was also looking at Kansas State, Ohio State and Boise State.
“Washington State is a PAC 10 school and it is one of the top teams in the nation,” she said. “I know I have to step it up 10 times more, but I am ready.”
Washington State lost to Northern Iowa in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Lincoln. The Cougars finished the season at 18-13. WSU coach Andrew Palileo told Kabalis that she might be switched to either a libero or a defensive specialist, and Kabalis said she ok with that.
Kabalis earned first team NJCAA all-American, Region IX All-Region and All-Tournament, and was selected as the top defensive player at the national tournament in November. She had 68 digs in four matches at nationals, including a 25-dig performance against Frank Phillips and a 23-dig outing against Missouri State-West Plains.
Kabalis found it strange to win the defensive player award at the national tournament.
“I love playing defense and it is one of my favorite positions,” she said. “ It doesn’t matter how good of a hitter you are, if you’re a better defensive player you can pick up the hitter’s hits. I hustle for the ball and I don’t let it drop. I want the ball to be off the ground. I know that I can do both in being an outside hitter and a defensive specialist.”
WNCC coach Giovana Melo considers Washington State a good fit for Kabalis.
“I think Kalei can play any position she is put at,” Melo said. “Obviously she will have to go out there and do the best that she can. In my opinion, they probably will have her in the back row and I don’t know if it will be as a libero or as a defensive specialist where she can hit because she is a pretty good back row player. She can help them in that aspect.”
Melo added that the biggest thing that made Kabalis succeed was her willing to get better.
“I think she has improved tremendously and what she improved most at was her maturity,” Melo said. “I think she learned to play more as part of a team. She learned that the team needed her as much as she needed them. That helped her take the team to the next level.
“She did great things her freshman year, but in her second year here she was a completely different player and she got better as the year went along. Going to Washington State is going to help her even more. I think she will do her best at Washington State and she will do everything she can. She is a kid that knows what she wants and will work hard for it.”
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