DIETERICH — The Dieterich volleyball season opens up on Monday against Ramsey, but without a familiar face as the setter.
Graduate Ella Kreke, who was the setter for the past three seasons, left big shoes to fill for the next one in line.
Kreke ended her career with over 1,000 assists. She had 377 last season.
“It was an exciting thing to be recognized for and I hope it inspires younger girls to work hard for it, too,” Kreke said.
Kreke never truly realized how close she was to the number.
The ever-humble former athlete was more concerned with bettering herself and the team.
“Her attitude; she never complained and did what you told her to do,” head coach Rich Westendorf said. “She would try to fix it if she wasn’t doing it right. She was a great player.”
“If you told her to fix something, she wouldn’t take it negatively,” former head coach Nicole Flood continued. “She used it as constructive criticism and fixed it.”
Flood coached Kreke for three of her four years at DHS, and also during her junior high years.
She said that when Kreke first started setting, her motions were all wrong.
Over time, Kreke was able to tweak that and develop into one of the more underrated setters in the area.
“My style changed after I found a comfortable way to set and it clicked better for me,” Kreke said. “I put time in during the offseason and worked hard.”
Flood believed that Kreke felt intimidated when she was first put on the seventh-grade team as a sixth grader.
She was the only one her age who moved up.
“Coming on as a sixth grader, I think she was intimidated that she was already starting for the seventh-grade team. She wasn’t with the girls her age, but once she found her style, she really picked up on it,” Flood said. “She would ask me what she needed to fix, work on it in her barn and then practice with her mom or dad. Afterward, she’d come back and say, ‘What’s the next thing I need to work on?’
“Her determination over the years and seeing her at 1,000 assists, I was in tears.”
Setting, to Kreke, meant more to her than anything because she was involved in every play.
That’s why she loved the position.
“I love that I could be involved in every play and get to interact with all of my teammates,” she said. “It makes you mentally tough.”
It didn’t hurt to be good at the position, either.
Kreke made everyone around her better.
“She improved with every pass,” Westendorf said. “Her set was always an improvement over the pass and if it were a good pass, she would have a perfect set every time.”
“I think over time, she got comfortable with her hitters and was able to say, ‘This person is hitting, I need to set it up or down,’” Flood added. “She got comfortable with their hitting style. She wouldn’t only work on herself, but adjust for her players, as well.”
Kreke was a three-sport athlete at DHS, competing in basketball and softball. She is currently attending Lake Land College and majoring in nursing.