By Neil Schmidt
Enquirer contributor

This isn't the way it's supposed to work.

But when Northern Kentucky University volleyball coach Carlos Chia got an e-mail from an eventual All-American saying she wanted to play for him, he didn't complain.

Serendipity that day in 2002 delivered the Norse perhaps the finest player in their 30-year history.

Kristin Koralewski, upset that her Northern Michigan coach, Scott Sandel, was leaving for the Boise State job, asked around for a program to which she could transfer.

A distant cousin, Tampa University coach Chris Catanach, recommended NKU.

Just two weeks remained before the 2002 season when Koralewski reached Chia.

"We finalized the deal over the phone," Chia said. "I felt like a professional agent: 'Sign her up.!' "

Chia knew what he was getting.

An outside hitter, Koralewski had totaled 20 kills and 22 digs as an NMU freshman in a four-game postseason loss to the Norse, and the Wisconsin native led her team that year in kills, digs and aces.

How well has she fared for the Norse?

With her sixth kill today in a doubleheader in the Findlay Invitational, the senior will be the 10th player to total 1,000 kills at NKU - doing so early in her third season.

If one could include her 354 kills from NMU, she'd be on pace to break the NKU record of 1,702 kills held by Bethany Gastright (1998-2001).

If she can better the 580 kills (with 487 digs) of her junior season, Koralewski might approach 2,000 kills for her four-year career.

With a junior season that included 580 kills and 487 digs, Koralewski was named first team Division II All-America - an honor achieved previously by only one NKU player, Jessica Buroker in 1999.

Koralewski will try this fall to become the school's first two-time first team All-American and contend for national player of the year honors.

"That has been mentioned, and it is a little pressure," Koralewski said. "But it doesn't matter how I do; it matters how the team does."

Koralewski's perseverance is what led Chia to name her the team's sole captain before her junior season.

The first obstacle she overcame was her height - 5 feet 8, undersized for the front line.

Then she endured while at NMU an agonizing condition called Compartment Syndrome - affecting muscles in her lower legs - and had surgeries on both legs, necessitating a medical redshirt year.

She also has weathered a stress fracture in her shin and a bulging disc in her lower back the past few years.

"She's dealt with all that the best she can," Chia said. "And she leads by example."

The ultimate payoff came last year in the NCAA Tournament, when NKU went to NMU - the Great Lakes Region's top team at 26-0 - and pulled off a four-game upset.

"Beating the girls I used to play with was something I'll never forget," Koralewski said. "My teammates knew I wanted that one."

The Norse finished 26-12 last year, one victory from the Elite Eight. They are 3-2 this season; Koralewski was MVP of a tournament last weekend in Florida.

NKU SOCCER: The men's and women's teams are hosting the John Toebben Classic this weekend at the Town & County Sports Complex in Wilder.

Each team will face Christian Brothers on Sunday, the women at 1 p.m. and the men at 3:30.

NKU's women, 2-0 entering a night game Friday, ranked No. 7 nationally in preseason.

NKU CROSS COUNTRY: The men's and women's teams are hosting the NKU Invitational Friday at A.J. Jolly Park in Alexandria. Both teams begin their season today in the Dayton Invitational.

TMC FOOTBALL: Mike Hallett makes his debut as Thomas More coach today in the 1:30 p.m. season opener against visiting Hanover.

Hallett, a TMC assistant coach the past five seasons, starts with a tough test; the Saints have won just two of their last six in this series.

TMC WOMEN'S SOCCER: Junior forward Cathy Santillo (Harrison) scored the lone goal in a 1-1 tie Wednesday with Mount St. Joseph.

With 44 career goals, she needs just four more to match the school record set by Jenny Jostworth (1994-96).

The week ahead

• NKU volleyball: vs. Hillsdale*, 10 a.m. today; at Findlay, 6 p.m. today; vs. Walsh#, 4 p.m. Friday; vs. W.Va. Wesleyan#, 6 p.m. Friday
• NKU women's soccer: vs. Christian Brothers, 1 p.m. Sunday.
• NKU men's soccer: vs. Christian Brothers, 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
• NKU women's tennis: vs. UM-St. Louis, 9 a.m. today; vs. SIUE, 3 p.m. today.
• NKU cross country: at Dayton Invitational, 10 a.m. today; NKU Invitational at A.J. Jolly Park, 4:30 p.m. Friday.
• TMC football: vs. Hanover, 1:30 p.m. today.
• TMC men's soccer: at Anderson (Ind.), 4 p.m. today; vs. Ohio Northern (at Sidney High), 7 p.m. Wednesday.
• TMC women's soccer: at Anderson (Ind.), 11:30 a.m. today.
• TMC volleyball: at Ohio Northern, 11:15 a.m. today; vs. DePauw%, 1:15 p.m. today; vs. UW-Oshkosh&, 3 p.m. Friday; vs. East Texas Baptist&, 7:30 p.m. Friday.
*-Findlay
#-Ashland, Ohio
%-Ada, Ohio
&-San Antonio

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This weekly notebook spotlights NKU and Thomas More sports.

E-mail neilcschmidt@yahoo.com