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Eastwood senior Katie Primeau, the Alan Miller Jewelers All-Press Player of the Year, had a rare opportunity to be a hitter last Sunday during the East-West All-Star volleyball match in Fostoria.
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| Katie Primeau |
“Put it this way,” said Primeau, the Eagles' honorable mention All-Ohio standout and Suburban Lakes League Player of the Year, “I'm glad I'm a setter.”
Primeau always wondered what it would be like to be a hitter – the position that does most of the scoring and gets most of the the recognition - on her volleyball team. The 5-foot-6 Pimeau has been a setter since the seventh grade.
“When you're the hitter, people are saying, 'nice kill' and giving them all the compliments,” Primeau said. “I'm like, 'hey, I'm the one who set her up (for the kill).' The girls on the team, the hitters, they always say 'nice set,' so I do get feedback from them. I also know that the coaches and our Eastwood parents know it took both the hitters and the setter to make the point."
In addition to earning All-SLL, All-Press, and All-Ohio honors, Primeau was also voted the District 7 Player of the Year in Division II after leading the Eagles to their second straight league co-championship.
“Katie is a great athlete,” said Genoa coach Amanda Cichocki, whose squad tied Eastwood for this year's SLL title. “I've seen her since her freshman year and she's definitely put a lot of hours in the gym. She's not one of those setters that just distributes. She will look at the court, she knows the other team's rotations and she decides which will be the best thing to run. Her volleyball knowledge is probably a level above a lot of the girls in our league.”
Primeau played on Eastwood's junior varsity team as a freshman and sophomore, and new coach Jeff Beck made her a starting setter on the varsity squad her junior year. She responded by setting a school single-season record with 724 assists to kill.
Beck said court smarts set Primeau apart from other players at her position.
“For Katie, it's not about the technique anymore,” Beck said. “She knows in every rotation what players to set. She has the intellect of a true setter. She knows the weaknesses in every rotation of the opposing team. The more intense the moment, the better player she is.”
Primeau had 721 assists this season and finished with 1,445 for her career, another school record. She said Beck's faith in her allowed her to relax and take charge on the court.
“I give him tons of credit for everything,” Primeau said. “He changed my setting style completely. When he came here, he told us we need to establish our middles (middle hitters). If you're the setter, you need to take charge of the court; it's your court. This year he just let me go and take control. He had faith in me that I could control this team and get it to the hitters who were on. Him believing in me made me believe in myself so much more.”
Primeau was named to four different all-star teams following the regular season, including the Ohio All-Star match on Nov. 21 in Wooster. She said the postseason accolades she's receiving are the result of one thing.
“It's definitely showing that hard work pays off,” said Primeau, who plans to major in accounting and play volleyball in college. “After my sophomore year we knew a new head coach was coming in, and I wanted to work so hard toward my senior year. I wanted that recognition that I would work hard. I would do extra camps and stay before and after practice. I would ask, 'what else do I need to do?'
“I would stay after and do reps with that certain set until I was confident in that set again. All the coaches in the league and the district knew I was that hard of a worker and I deserved that sort of recognition. Getting named All-Ohio was like the cherry on top - a good ending to a good season.”
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