Columbus North’s Kaitlyn Olivo goes up for a kill against Terre Haute South Oct. 11 at Columbus North.
Submitted photo
Kaitlyn Olivo comes from a family background in volleyball, but the Columbus North senior will be a collegiate athlete in a different sport.
Olivo will attend Indiana University next year and be on the school’s rowing team.
Olivo first heard about college rowing when she received a non-personalized email from Michigan State. When she heard from someone that worked for her father Jose about the rowing team at IU, it got Kaitlyn interested.
Over the summer, Olivo contacted the IU coaches, and a couple months later, she committed to the Hoosiers.
“It was a very quick process. The coaches told me about the program, what they offer and what the team is like. It sounded amazing, and we felt that it would be right for me,” Olivo said. “I always wanted to do sports in college, and also, I wanted to go to a big school. I didn’t want to go to a small school. So it just worked out perfectly for the IU rowing team. It was the school I wanted to go to, and I can do some sports.”
Kaitlyn Olivo
Olivo wasn’t afraid to admit that she didn’t have much rowing experience. She said there is a novice rowing team for the girls that don’t have a lot of experience in the water.
Following volleyball season, Olivo said she will be going to the gym and doing some workouts designed for rowing. It will be a new experience in her life, switching from the hardwood court in the gymnasium to the open water outdoors.
“I’m going to start really preparing since I don’t have experience in actually rowing,” Olivo said. “It’s a whole new thing entirely. I’m very excited. It’s definitely a new thing I’ve never done before. I’ve never been someone just to do new things like this either. I’m really changing it up.”
The IU team practices at Lake Lemon, which is 10 miles northeast of Bloomington. She said the team carpools together and starts practices usually at 6 a.m., and in the wintertime, they have physical, indoor workouts at a facility on campus.
As far as her academics, Olivo said she will major in psychology and child therapy and minor in social work.
The schedule can be hectic for the Olivo family, especially in the fall with Kaitlyn playing and practicing for North, and her father as the head volleyball coach at IU Columbus.
Jose grew up in Venezuela and eventually made his journey to Columbus in 2010. It was Jose that taught his daughter the game of volleyball for the past decade.
“Volleyball is his life. It’s our whole family’s life with both of our club seasons, both of our school seasons all year,” Kaitlyn said. “He wanted me to start doing volleyball, and he coached volleyball when he was in college and in Venezuela when he was there. He started coaching again when I started playing volleyball. He coached me for a lot of my childhood until about middle school. Both of us have always been doing volleyball.”
Kaitlyn has one last task to accomplish before she graduates from North, and that is to bring home a sectional title. The Bull Dogs have a strong chance to do as they will be the favorite in today’s semifinals and final of the Franklin Sectional.
North will take on Franklin at noon today, and if the Bull Dogs prevail, they will play the Whiteland-East Central winner in the final at 6 p.m.
Olivo hopes her season can continue beyond Saturday.
“I started playing volleyball when I was 8 years old,” she said. “One thing I love about volleyball is that it’s a team sport. It’s focused on being hyped, emotional. It’s a sport where you really can’t get down. I really like that about it, and I’ve gained a lot of friends from it.”
When her high school volleyball career eventually comes to an end, Olivo is ready to start the next chapter.
“I have loved volleyball so much. I do love it. I have been doing it for 10 years,” she said. “Personally, I’m ready for a new change of scenery, and I’m so ready to start something new.”
