With fall sports coming to an end, it’s time to pick an MVP.
Multiple athletes here at CMU have made a pretty strong case for this title. You have names like Lawan Abary, who is the leading scorer for the men’s soccer team. What about a football standout in Mason Newton whose presence resides in the backfield of opposing teams?
Still, one name stands out above the rest…Kasie Gilfert.
Gilfert is an athlete whose name is recognized as one of, If not the best volleyball players in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) and even the entirety of Div. II. The Northern Arizona transfer stands a towering 6’0 tall with a spike like no other.
“She’s what all the other teams in the (RMAC) scout for and try to defend. We feel that If she still does it right, she can’t be stopped.” Head volleyball coach David Fleming said.” She’s pretty dominant and probably the best athlete that’s ever played for us here.”
The middle-blocker’s accomplishments contain First Team All-American (D2CCA), First team All-RMAC, RMAC Player of the Year, 4x RMAC Offensive Player of the Week and even NCAA Statistics Champion in Hitting Percentage.
This season, she leads the RMAC with 359 kills and a hitting percentage of .390. Nationally, Gilfert is in the top 20 for hitting percentage, kills and points per set.
“The biggest thing I was focusing on was just making sure that I was always improving, and I knew that this year would be difficult for me because after last year more teams would kind of know who I am, and their game plan would change.” Gilfert said.
When combining the both the 2018 and 2019 season, Gilfert has a total of 772 kills in 56 matches. That’s an average of about 13.8 kills a match. The high powered, accurate, spikes she sends across the tape are almost impossible to dig up.
“She’s very athletic, her max touch velocity was 10’4. If we can get anyone around the 10’0 range they’re probably going to be pretty good for us.” Dave Fleming said. “Another thing about Kasie is that she’s super disciplined about how she attacks. She’s very good about keeping the ball in front of her and that’s why she’s able to hit the ball down so much and she’s also able to block really well.”
Kasie also had some pretty big success in high school. She was a four-year Varsity letter, 2x team MVP as a junior and senior, set single season school records for hitting percentage (.428) and blocks (158) as a junior and was a two-year varsity caption at Legend High School in Parker. CO.
When you gather all the stats, all the titles and eyewitness accounts, one can clearly see the magnitude in which Kasie plays. She’s the best player in the RMAC and one of the best athletes to set foot on the court in Brownson Arena.
