Former St. Michael Star Is A Big Hit For Gopher Volleyball Team

Katherine Harms, a 6-foot-2 junior outside1 hitter from is one of the key reason for the Minnesota volleyball team’s fast start. The Golden Gophers are ranked No. 9 in the country, heading into Big Ten play this weekend.

Harms has helped lead the Gophers to a 7-2 mark, leading into this weekend when they will No. 3 Illinois on Friday and Northwestern on Sunday at home.

Harms and her teammates have had to adjust to a change in the coaching staff this season. Long-time head coach Mike Hebert retired after leading the Gophers to the third round of the NCAA Tournament and interim head coach Laura Bush is coaching the team this season. Hugh McCutheon, the U.S. Olympic Women’s Volley Coach, will take over for the 2012 season after the London Olympics.

Harms has shown improvement each year at Minnesota and has emerged as a full-time starter this season.

Harms was ranked as the No. 7 ranked senior in the nation according to prepvolleyball.com. She helped lead St. Michael-Albertville to the state tournament as a junior and senior. Harms was named First-Team All-State, Star Tribune All-Metro and the conference's MVP in her senior year. 

Patch.com recently caught up his Harms to learn more about her expectations for this season, having a new coach and memories of her high school career.

Patch: You have to be very pleased with the start that the team has gotten off to so far.

Harms: Definitely. Everybody is just doing their jobs really well, collectively. We are clicking really well as a team. It is really nice to have 12, 13, 14 girls all fighting for the same thing.

Patch: You played a very tough schedule against nationally ranked teams like Texas, USC and Oregon. Do you like playing those tougher teams that will get you ready for conference play and hopefully, the NCAA Tournament?

Harms: It definitely shows you right at the beginning that it is going to be a really, really tough road to get to the Final Four. There are really good teams and if you can start off the season at that highest level of volleyball, I definitely think that you have a step up.

Patch: What types of things did you work on during the offseason to get ready for a big junior year? 

Harms: It was a lot of getting used to the transition of the new coaching staff and a new system. We definitely worked a lot on becoming a team and I think that we did a really good job this spring and summer of making that happen.

Patch: How big of an adjustment has it been for having a head coach who had been here a long time and been very successful to having an interim coach and then having another coach next season?

Harms: At first, we definitely had our concerns because nobody likes change, but once we embraced the change, it was just easy. We knew everyone wanted the same thing and that the coaches were working towards the same thing we were.

Patch: Does that fact that Laura Bush was on the staff the last few seasons make it a little bit easier than having a new coach come in for one year?

Harms:“I definitely think so. Laura has had us for a couple of years now and she knows what we are like and I think that she was a huge help in the transition.”

Patch: There are a lot of Minnesota girls on the roster. Nationally, people might not know that Minnesota is a good volleyball state. Why do you think that you have been so successful with mostly Minnesota natives on the team? 

Harms: I think it is all of us wanting the same thing. You can get that from anywhere, but it is like having that pride that ‘I’m from Minnesota and I’m playing for Minnesota,’ is a huge factor. You bring other girls in and they can feel that we have a lot of pride towards our state.

Patch: When you look back at your high school career, what stands out as some of the top highlights for you?

Harms: The state tournaments with the girls. Having a great group of girls in high school to really elevate me to the next level.

Patch: You made it to the state tournament as a junior and senior. Does one stand out more than the other? 

Harms: My senior year. We had 11 seniors out of 13 girls on the roster. It was just another one of those teams that everyone knew what we wanted and we were going for it.

Patch: You are majoring in Business marketing and education. Have you thought about what you want to try to do with that?

Harms: I’m not entirely sure yet. I’m still on the undecided level.

Patch: Have you thought about getting into coaching or would you try to play after your college career overseas?

Harms: I am considering playing after college. Four years of volleyball, I don’t know if I can just stop right after.

Patch: If you are a former basketball player, you can always play pick up basketball. Is it tough as a volleyball player since you can’t probably go to Lifetime Fitness and grab some people and say ‘Let’s play?’

Harms:Very true, but one of the great things about Minnesota is that they have such great alumni and that they are always just wanting player to come back and play. We play with some of the older players that have graduated all the time, so it is nice to see that they have such a drive for our team as we do.

Patch: I know that your schedule keeps you busy, but do you get back to St. Michael-Albertville to watch the high school team play much?

Harms: I got back for two games last year. They won on both occasions, which was nice. Those girls worked so hard. I tried to get to see some of them that played club volleyball because I have coached it in the past. I don’t get to see them as much as I would like to, but I know that they are working hard.

Harms is hoping that her own hard work will play off and helping the Gophers make another strong run in the NCAA Tournament.