Log In


Reset Password
Pine River Times Pine River Times opinion Pine River Times news Pine River Times sports

BHS volleyball senior, grad to play in Croatia

Foutz, Hillyer primed to spike overseas in European Global Challenge

With a second invitation to play in the European Global Challenge, Kirstie Hillyer is already primed to have done more world-traveling than the majority of people probably ever will.

This time, however, she'll have some familiar company - at least on the initial trans-Atlantic flight - on the journey destined for Pula, Croatia: current Bayfield High School senior and future Colorado State University teammate Maddi Foutz.

That's right. Two Wolverine volleyball stars, past and present, will lead an invasion of the Adriatic coast under the Bring It Promotions' banner, and the former Wolverine expects the current one to benefit.

"We're on completely separate teams - she's on the team I played for . an 18-and-under team - and I probably won't see her much," Hillyer said last Friday via phone. "But she can just go and expect to get some great playing out of it. It will be a great experience for her, for sure."

"A little bit like a vacation," said Foutz the following morning outside BHS. "But I'm more excited to just play volleyball. I like getting that higher competition level. It's really fun pushing yourself."

"The previous assistant coach at CSU, Brook Coulter, is the one who invited Kirstie, and then she invited me," Foutz said.

"They usually pick their top recruits for the incoming class, whatever year that we're going in. Kirstie was a top recruit and I was the top recruit this class, I guess."

In the EGC's U22 "Brijuni" Division, Hillyer will be suiting up for the Mountain West Conference (NCAA Division I) All-Stars as Colorado's only representative amongst the chosen dozen. The head coach will be Boise State's Shawn Garus, assisted by CSU assistant Emily Hiza and Nevada graduate assistant Visnja "Vish" Djurdjevic, who has played and coached in nearby Slovenia, as well as Austria.

"I'm playing for a totally different team now . college-level," Hillyer said.

"Most of the girls are juniors and seniors for the Mountain West, so just having this opportunity to play with such . established players, I'm super excited to go and represent CSU for that.

"Going for the second time . I kind of know, like, the feel of the tournament and kind of how it's set up," she continued. "So I'm excited just to be able to go and play, not have to worry about . everybody else - you just go and play."

Foutz, meanwhile, will play in the U17 "Istria" Division with BIP Southeast, coached by Jacksonville (Fla.) Juniors Volleyball Association's Ashley Monfort.

Her teammates include two San Diego State University commits, two bound for Florida Gulf Coast University, and one each destined for North Carolina, Utah, University of West Florida and Duquesne University - with the roster's other listed libero (and setter) giving her nod to the last on that list.

Foutz, a Four Corners Volleyball Club player, downed a reported three kills and dug up four balls per game as the Wolverines went 13-12 last year, narrowly missing making the CHSAA Class 3A State Tournament. She is the daughter of Mike and Terene Foutz.

"It was nice I didn't have to try out, that I was invited to go, because with H.P., thousands of girls tried out every year and it was always a hold-your-breath moment," said Foutz. She was alluding to her USAVolleyball High Performance experience, dating back to 2011.

"But this is definitely super, super exciting! I've never got to travel like this to go play volleyball."

"In H.P., again, I got the opportunity to play teams from Canada and China and New Zealand," she said, "so I'm expecting about the same competition level - maybe a little more. We have a lot of scrimmages for practice before we actually go into the tournament, but it shouldn't be anything new.

"I just want to be a leader - in a small town and when I go overseas," Foutz said, "just not letting something huge like that affect my leadership. I still want to be, like, little but mighty."

Including Tuesday's July 5 departure, the 12th Annual European Global Challenge runs through July 16, and one can catch hourly results online at http://bringitusa.com/gc2016. As a special attraction, the tournament's opening ceremony will be held around the perimeter of one of the world's last remaining -and fully intact - Roman colosseums, dating back to 68 A.D.

Building upon it

Both Hillyer and Foutz indicated a desire to utilize their respective EGC odysseys as a foundation for their upcoming fall 2016 seasons.

"Just having that under my belt, and being ready to go out and play for real this year ... I'm so excited," said Hillyer, who's already been hitting her schoolwork as well as volleyballs this summer in advance of her first true collegiate campaign.

Colorado State's slate begins with North Dakota State visiting Moby Arena at 7 p.m. on Aug. 26. St. Mary's College will come calling the next night from Maraga, California, and the Rams' first away match - in Greeley at the University of Northern Colorado - will then follow on the 30th.

CSU qualified for a 21st consecutive NCAA Tournament in 2015 but was stunned in four by Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles in the first round. The Rams finished 26-4 overall after winning a seventh straight Mountain West Conference title with a perfect 18-0 mark.

"I knew when I was coming to CSU that it was going to be a major step, a huge adjustment," said the 6-foot, 6-inch middle.

"And as soon as I got here, started playing, I realized it was exactly where I wanted to be. Now I'm pretty much all healed up from everything that's happened, and after staying out the redshirt year ... I'm beyond ready to ... start helping out my team more than just in practice."

Foutz anticipates BHS, led by a tested senior class, will seek the postseason with one end in mind.

"This is our last season and so we just want to push ourselves really hard," she said.

"We want to make it to state, so you can expect to see us doing whatever it takes."

She and her teammates played in the volleyball club last winter and this spring, and they've been conditioning all summer.

"I have confidence . more energy, I guess. I think I've been working really hard - everyone on the team has been working really hard - and I'm ready to play and have some fun."

And of course, prepare to reunite at the next level with a good friend.

"We've always been really, really close," Foutz said of Hillyer.

"And actually, I just got back from Fort Collins the day before yesterday, and we went to dinner up there. So every time that I go to Fort Collins or she comes back to Bayfield, we try to meet up."