Fast-rising standout

There’s many reasons why North Idaho College sophomore Kayla Neumann found the sport of volleyball.

Her parents — Karl and Shari — played it for one.

So she did as well.

Sure, there were other sports along the way, but nothing quite compared to playing volleyball.

“It’s popular in my family,” Neumann said. “That’s kind of how I got started in it. My parents met playing beach volleyball, so it’s been around our family for a long time. And quite honestly, it was the only thing I was good at.”

Growing up in the Sandpoint area, Neumann also tried her luck in other sports, but nothing quite clicked.

“I was in basketball, gymnastics and soccer as a kid,” Neumann said. “I played a lot of soccer as a kid. Basketball, I stayed with under the seventh grade. Then, they told me not to show up for tryouts, so I took that as my opportunity to leave that behind and go with volleyball.”

Gymnastics was a little different, but at the end of the day, nothing compared to volleyball.

“I enjoyed doing gymnastics, but just wasn’t getting better at it,” Neumann said. “But I was getting better at volleyball.”

You can credit a little family time for that.

“I remember we’d go to the health club out in Hope all the time as a kid,” Neumann said. “We’d bring a basketball and a volleyball. It was my parents, sister (Hannah) and I, and we’d play around all day. We’d play a game of pepper all the time. We’d go play volleyball in the grass, but pepper was our go-to.”

During her down time, Neumann enjoys spending time outdoors relaxing.

“When it’s not snowy, I love to go hiking and swimming,” Neumann said. “Boating is probably my favorite thing to do.”

Neumann was a member of the Sandpoint High varsity team three of her four years.

“I saw a lot of court time in Sandpoint,” Neumann said. “And I don’t think I would have seen that much time playing at a bigger school like Spokane or Coeur d’Alene. I was really able to get a lot out of that court time. Playing in Sandpoint, I was able to play all six rotations all the time and got a lot of experience under my belt before college.”

In her first season at NIC, Neumann led the Cardinals to a 33-8 record, including a 15-1 NWAC record and an East Region championship. For her efforts, Neumann was named the East Region Player of the Year.

“I had some schools in Oregon, Washington and a few local schools interested out of high school,” Neumann said. “But I knew that NIC was a smarter option for me. I knew I wasn’t ready to play at that speed. NIC’s motto is ‘start here, go anywhere.’ I thought it would be cool to play in front of the locals and then shoot off somewhere else.”

Those locals include her former Sandpoint High teammates, just a mere 45 miles away.

“I was ready to leave home, but wasn’t ready to be in a big pond yet,” Neumann said. “I think I was ready to leave, but now that I look back on it, it was a good option coming here. I get to see my parents often. Get to go home when I want to.”

Neumann, an 6-foot outside hitter, leads the team with 210 kills, and is fourth in the conference with an average of 3.50 kills per set.

“I definitely learned my place on the court and where I fit in best,” Neumann said. “I’ve learned that I’m a leader, and that’s a role I like to play on the court.”

At first, playing at the college level threw Neumann for a loop.

“I was knocked down a little when I got here,” Neumann said. “It was a different speed than I was used to. But being here, I’ve learned more about court awareness and being a good teammate. As well as the mental side of volleyball.”

“She’s enjoyable to coach and more importantly to be around,” NIC coach Kelsey Stanley said. “Kayla’s personality lights up a room when she walks in and it shows in her playing as well. She has been one of the most talented athletes I have had. She takes direction and puts it into effect instantly. Not too many athletes at this level can do that without working on it for days, if not weeks. She’s been fun to coach, but even more fun to watch play.”

Some early struggles included putting too much pressure on herself on the court.

“The No. 1 thing that Kelsey has taught me is that I used to get down on myself a lot,” Neumann said. “And Kelsey kind of pulled me out of that rut. That was one thing that coaches didn’t really like about me is that when I’d get in that rut, or mess something up, I’d get down on myself. Kelsey really just showed me that I can do it. I can pull myself out of it by myself, and I don’t have to depend on other people to do it.”

“She’s a completely different person on and off the court,” Stanley said. “I’d like to say last year was a learning curve for Kayla. Most freshmen struggle their first semester with all the distractions such as school, friends, volleyball, etc. It takes them a while to get back on track. For Kayla, it took her a full year for her to realize what’s important and I’m proud of how far she has came. Kayla has shown confidence consistently on the court this year that I didn’t see as often last year. And she has worked hard on making sure that she is successful in the classroom so that she can go on and play.

“She’s hands down the best athlete in the NWAC in my opinion. I’m able to tell her, ‘put the ball down’ and she has the confidence to do so. She works hard every day for us and always has a smile on her face. I couldn’t ask for a better kid to represent the North Idaho College volleyball program.”

Having her hometown just a mere 45 miles away, Neumann has also had a lot of familiar faces in the crowd during home matches at Christianson Gym.

“It’s honestly really nice,” Neumann said. “To get to see that check-in sheet for people coming to your game, it’s a nice feeling. There have been times I’ve had to take up other girls’ spots because I’ve got so many people coming to watch. It’s nice seeing a familiar face in the crowd. I know it’s hard for a lot of the other girls that aren’t from here to have that. They don’t get that a lot.”

Neumann added she’s taken fellow sophomore Haylee Templeton, a Murrieta, Calif., native, home with her during breaks from school.

“I took her home with me during holiday break last year so she could see what a real North Idaho winter was like,” Neumann said. “She’s been going home with me quite often.”

When it comes to traditions, Neumann has a few before each home match.

“I’ll go get an Acai Bowl from the Wellness Bar and a coffee from Jitterz,” Neumann said. “That’s my gameday go-to, and I think it helps just to give myself something special right before the match. I also go get a Red Bull to get that little bit of extra energy. Going out to eat is my favorite thing to do. When I have time, I’ll grab a good group of friends and go get a Gooey at the Coeur d’Alene Resort or something.”

What she won’t get is any food that is a dark color.

“I’ve got a fear of dark-colored food,” Neumann said. “Some of my teammates know that, but not all of them. I’m not a big meat eater. I love fruit, but really don’t like blackberries, just because they’re dark.”

NIC (23-11) begins play in the Northwest Athletic Conference Championship on Thursday at the Greater Tacoma Convention Center. NIC is the fourth seed from the East Region and will face Linn-Benton (29-10) in the opening round at 11:30 a.m. Other teams from the East Region qualifying were Blue Mountain (24-9), Walla Walla (32-6) and regional champion Spokane (35-0).

“I feel like the pressure is on Spokane this year,” Neumann said. “They’re 35-0 and that’s kind of where we were sitting last year. And we kind of lost that streak going into the tournament last year. We were feeling kind of lost, because we didn’t know what it felt like to lose last year. This year, we got a taste of that, and I know we don’t want that again.”

NIC lost an early season match to Linn-Benton 2-1 in Eugene, only to beat L-B 3-1 in another tournament in Spokane the following week.

“We kind of feel like we’re getting overlooked by a couple of teams,” Neumann said. “So it’s going to be exciting to get to the NWACs and show some people what we can do.”

And in case you might be wondering, conference rival Spokane is on the same side of the bracket as NIC.

“It definitely lights a fire under us knowing that teams think they’ll be able to sweep us in three (sets),” Neumann said. “It helps to have that fire. I kind of like this year. We’re calm, quiet and everyone is not that focused on us this year.”