University of Minnesota Athletics
Hometown Hero: Junior Kelly Bowman
11/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
“I knew right away that I was coming to the U. When I was a ball girl, I loved it here; I loved being at the games, being so close to the court and interacting with the players,” explained Bowman. “I decided pretty early that I was going to school here and play volleyball too.”
As a sophomore, Bowman committed verbally to the University of Minnesota. Bowman, who was the No. 4 ranked senior in the nation coming out of high school, never gave consideration to going anywhere but Minnesota.
“Kelly was a ball girl with our program and had attended our camps so we knew a lot about her,” said Hebert. “In her sophomore season, Kelly and her mom contacted us and told us that this is where she wanted to go to school. We were extremely happy with her decision to stay home and play for Minnesota.”
Her decision could not have worked out any better for her or for the Gopher team as they have achieved unprecedented success in Bowman’s time here, advancing to back-to-back Final Fours and the National Championship match in 2004. During her freshman year, Bowman contributed in a variety of ways filling in a couple matches at setter, coming in at defensive specialist and even starting her first collegiate match as an outside hitter.
Entering her sophomore year, the coaching staff knew that with Cassie Busse graduating it was imperative that Minnesota put its best pure volleyball players on the court. Bowman was among those players, but in a 5-1 system she was blocked from getting into the lineup by senior setter Lindsey Taatjes. Rather than have two of the better all-around players on the team battle it out for one position, the coaching staff decided to adjust to a 6-2 system to allow both Bowman and Taatjes to play on the court at the same time.
“Entering the 2004 season, we wanted to make sure we had our best volleyball players on the floor at the same time,” said Hebert. “We knew what a great all-around player Kelly was and that her skills would make her a good fit for the 6-2 offense so we decided to use two setters to allow Lindsey and Kelly to be on the court at the same time. Both players did a great job adjusting to the system and were huge keys in our success last year.”
Bowman started as a 6-2 setter, and racked up a pile of incredible statistics, most impressively leading the nation with nine triple-doubles. The team was the NCAA runner- up, and Bowman’s play did not go unnoticed, as she became only the fifth Golden Gopher in the school’s history to be named a First Team All-American.
“I was shocked. I really wasn’t expecting it. It’s one of those things that came about because of the team and how well we did,” stated Bowman. “The team is what allowed me to be recognized and it was such a great team to play on. I think of it as a team award.”
Now as an upperclassman, Bowman has taken on an added role of being a team leader. She has helped take the program to the elite level, and feels that it is the veteran players’ job to keep it there. Bowman has welcomed the opportunity to step up and help lead this season’s team, but claims there is no added pressure to keep the program at the level it has been the past two seasons.
“I don’t feel any added pressure to be a leader,” said Bowman. “I understand that we are a young team, and that our program has been an elite team the last two years. It’s just a matter of trying to stay at the top, yet keep getting better,” said Bowman. “I don’t think that there’s pressure, getting back to the Final Four is something we want to do, and we are going to work hard for it.”
“We had six seniors graduate off last year’s team,” said Hebert. “The natural progression was to look to the juniors and seniors on this year’s team to step up at the leadership role and make the transition easier for the new players coming into the program. Kelly is one of the primary players we asked to shoulder that responsibility entering this season.”
Even when pressure presents itself, there is no reason for Bowman to fear. In fact she seems to feed off of it. Statistically speaking, number one has played some of her best games in the Gophers’ biggest games. In her career, she has recorded triple-doubles against some of the nation’s perennial powerhouses such as USC, Florida, Penn State and Ohio State. She even tied her career best in kills, with 17 against number one ranked USC in 2004.
“I think it’s something that just kind of happens. I really get fired up to play big teams,” explained Bowman. “I think that when you are in a match where both teams are competing so hard that it just brings the best out of you. I think a lot of players on top teams tend to step it up a little more when the competition gets better. I enjoy playing against the top competition and our team has had a lot of opportunities to compete against the best teams in the nation over the past two years.”
Even with the success that she’s attained in her college career, her outstanding play in big games, and all the individual accolades she has attained, there is still a drive that burns inside Kelly Bowman. Getting so close to the ultimate team goal of winning an NCAA Championship, and then not winning, is something that enters her head routinely, and keeps her focused on getting back.
“It was very hard to grasp that feeling of we were there, but we didn’t win,” stated Bowman. “It was shocking, but the worst part was knowing that I was never going to play with those six seniors ever again. That team meant so much to me and it has a special place with me.”
With only four of the 16 Golden Gopher volleyball players hailing from the state of Minnesota, Bowman relishes in the fact that she has been able to accomplish so much in her home state. She is a major reason for the team’s recent national success, and that means a little bit extra to be doing that in the state she has always called home.
“I knew right away that I wanted to come here because it is the home town team, and I always wanted to be the home town girl. No matter what happens in the next two years, I have no regrets and I love being here. It’s my favorite place to be,” commented Bowman.
It’s safe to say that Kelly Bowman loves being the home town girl, and the University of Minnesota volleyball team loves having such a talented and classy home town girl. Hopefully that happiness will allow Bowman to keep adding to her legacy, and keep the University of Minnesota as a national volleyball power. Some things in life are just meant to be. Fortunately for the volleyball program at the University of Minnesota, one of those things is junior setter Kelly Bowman. A ball girl for the Golden Gophers while growing up in nearby Maple Grove, the highly-recruited Bowman knew all along that the U of M was the place for her.
“I knew right away that I was coming to the U. When I was a ball girl, I loved it here; I loved being at the games, being so close to the court and interacting with the players,” explained Bowman. “I decided pretty early that I was going to school here and play volleyball too.”
As a sophomore, Bowman committed verbally to the University of Minnesota. Bowman, who was the No. 4 ranked senior in the nation coming out of high school, never gave consideration to going anywhere but Minnesota.
“Kelly was a ball girl with our program and had attended our camps so we knew a lot about her,” said Hebert. “In her sophomore season, Kelly and her mom contacted us and told us that this is where she wanted to go to school. We were extremely happy with her decision to stay home and play for Minnesota.”
Her decision could not have worked out any better for her or for the Gopher team as they have achieved unprecedented success in Bowman’s time here, advancing to back-to-back Final Fours and the National Championship match in 2004. During her freshman year, Bowman contributed in a variety of ways filling in a couple matches at setter, coming in at defensive specialist and even starting her first collegiate match as an outside hitter.
Entering her sophomore year, the coaching staff knew that with Cassie Busse graduating it was imperative that Minnesota put its best pure volleyball players on the court. Bowman was among those players, but in a 5-1 system she was blocked from getting into the lineup by senior setter Lindsey Taatjes. Rather than have two of the better all-around players on the team battle it out for one position, the coaching staff decided to adjust to a 6-2 system to allow both Bowman and Taatjes to play on the court at the same time.
“Entering the 2004 season, we wanted to make sure we had our best volleyball players on the floor at the same time,” said Hebert. “We knew what a great all-around player Kelly was and that her skills would make her a good fit for the 6-2 offense so we decided to use two setters to allow Lindsey and Kelly to be on the court at the same time. Both players did a great job adjusting to the system and were huge keys in our success last year.”
Bowman started as a 6-2 setter, and racked up a pile of incredible statistics, most impressively leading the nation with nine triple-doubles. The team was the NCAA runner- up, and Bowman’s play did not go unnoticed, as she became only the fifth Golden Gopher in the school’s history to be named a First Team All-American.
“I was shocked. I really wasn’t expecting it. It’s one of those things that came about because of the team and how well we did,” stated Bowman. “The team is what allowed me to be recognized and it was such a great team to play on. I think of it as a team award.”
Now as an upperclassman, Bowman has taken on an added role of being a team leader. She has helped take the program to the elite level, and feels that it is the veteran players’ job to keep it there. Bowman has welcomed the opportunity to step up and help lead this season’s team, but claims there is no added pressure to keep the program at the level it has been the past two seasons.
“I don’t feel any added pressure to be a leader,” said Bowman. “I understand that we are a young team, and that our program has been an elite team the last two years. It’s just a matter of trying to stay at the top, yet keep getting better,” said Bowman. “I don’t think that there’s pressure, getting back to the Final Four is something we want to do, and we are going to work hard for it.”
“We had six seniors graduate off last year’s team,” said Hebert. “The natural progression was to look to the juniors and seniors on this year’s team to step up at the leadership role and make the transition easier for the new players coming into the program. Kelly is one of the primary players we asked to shoulder that responsibility entering this season.”
Even when pressure presents itself, there is no reason for Bowman to fear. In fact she seems to feed off of it. Statistically speaking, number one has played some of her best games in the Gophers’ biggest games. In her career, she has recorded triple-doubles against some of the nation’s perennial powerhouses such as USC, Florida, Penn State and Ohio State. She even tied her career best in kills, with 17 against number one ranked USC in 2004.
“I think it’s something that just kind of happens. I really get fired up to play big teams,” explained Bowman. “I think that when you are in a match where both teams are competing so hard that it just brings the best out of you. I think a lot of players on top teams tend to step it up a little more when the competition gets better. I enjoy playing against the top competition and our team has had a lot of opportunities to compete against the best teams in the nation over the past two years.”
Even with the success that she’s attained in her college career, her outstanding play in big games, and all the individual accolades she has attained, there is still a drive that burns inside Kelly Bowman. Getting so close to the ultimate team goal of winning an NCAA Championship, and then not winning, is something that enters her head routinely, and keeps her focused on getting back.
“It was very hard to grasp that feeling of we were there, but we didn’t win,” stated Bowman. “It was shocking, but the worst part was knowing that I was never going to play with those six seniors ever again. That team meant so much to me and it has a special place with me.”
With only four of the 16 Golden Gopher volleyball players hailing from the state of Minnesota, Bowman relishes in the fact that she has been able to accomplish so much in her home state. She is a major reason for the team’s recent national success, and that means a little bit extra to be doing that in the state she has always called home.
“I knew right away that I wanted to come here because it is the home town team, and I always wanted to be the home town girl. No matter what happens in the next two years, I have no regrets and I love being here. It’s my favorite place to be,” commented Bowman.
It’s safe to say that Kelly Bowman loves being the home town girl, and the University of Minnesota volleyball team loves having such a talented and classy home town girl. Hopefully that happiness will allow Bowman to keep adding to her legacy, and keep the University of Minnesota as a national volleyball power.
