A freshman opposite hitter, Carly Gilk comes to Minnesota as an early enrollee from Brooklyn Park, Minn. The No. 1 ranked player in Minnesota in the 2025 class (Prep Dig), she was the 2024 Star Tribune All-Minnesota Player of the Year. Gilk is a three-time all-state honoree and a four-time all-conference selection who led the Rebels to the state tournament in 2024 for the first time in her career.
GS: Take us through your background and childhood. CG: I have a twin brother, Luke. we're pretty close. I always kind of had similar friends, so me and him were pretty tight. I have two older siblings, Abby and Jack, who are also twins. My sister Abby played softball at Augustana and now she is living in Maple Grove, working at Boston Scientific. My older brother, Jack, went to Montana State, he just graduated, and works up there. He's also really into music, he plays a guitar and writes songs. My brother Luke is going to Iowa State next year for engineering.
Gilk playing on her high school teamGS: How about your parents? CG: My dad is from South Dakota, so my entire dad's side lives in either Brookings. He grew up in Miller, which is a few hours away from Brookings. It's a really tiny town. We have a big family and we're all super close. I have 19 cousins on my dad's side and we all have family reunions every year. He has six siblings and all of them have kids, so we have a group chat with all of us. My mom, she grew up in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She has two other siblings, so the family is a little bit smaller. My dad went to school at SDSU and got his engineering degree, and then my mom, she went to school at Northern Illinois and played golf there. Minnesota was right in between Wisconsin and South Dakota, so it was convenient for both their families, cause we're both five hours away.
GS: Did volleyball run in your family or how did you get into the sport? CG: Volleyball isn't really a thing in my family. Some of my cousins play, but not seriously. The whole sports is kind of new for my whole family, like when my grandpa found out I committed, he printed out the volleyball rule book. He watched all of my club games and tried to figure out the rules of volleyball. Every time I'd visit him, he'd ask me questions, so its fun teaching everyone in my family about it just because no one else really played. One of my best friends growing up, Reese, her mom was the assistant coach at Roseville. She took us to practices when we were little, so we grew up in the gym watching them play. That's what really got me into the sport. I started playing club after that. I had always played basketball when I was younger - my mom and dad played basketball in high school so they always thought I was gonna be a basketball kid. But once I started playing volleyball, Reece's mom and then a couple of other coaches were like, 'she needs to play volleyball more.' It got to the point where I had to choose the sport I was playing, and I went with volleyball because I enjoyed it more.
Carly Gilk on her visit to MinnesotaGS: What other sports did you try growing up? CG: I did tee-ball, soccer, gymnastics, dance. I played baseball with my brother when I was older and I was the only girl on my team. I played flag football with him for a few years too. I also played tennis in middle school and did track in my freshman year of high school. Club-wise, I did FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and did Unified, where we'd play sports with kids with disabilities. Each Monday we would meet and plan different activities.
GS: When did you start to figure out you could play volleyball in college? CG: I'd say in eighth and ninth grade. I switched over to Minnesota Select in my freshman year and started noticing college coaches roaming around the courts. I started getting really serious around my freshman and sophomore year and began emailing coaches. I realized I loved the sport and wanted to try and play as long as I could. Towards the end of my sophomore year, I started narrowing down the schools I was really interested in.
Gilk and her brother in their baseball daysGS: Were you originally looking to go out of state for college? What changed your mind? CG: My family was never really Gophers fans until now. My mom grew up in Wisconsin and her brother went to UW. Their side is all Badgers fans. My dad was never into watching college sports. I'm a very outgoing person and just thought I wanted to have a new experience somewhere else. But getting closer to when I wanted to make my decision, Minnesota started reaching out a lot. My mom told me "you kind of just closed Minnesota off completely, you didn't really try to learn more about it." I had never walked around campus or been around there much, so we went and saw it one day. I really loved the campus and it was so pretty. I started talking to Keegan more and talked to a lot of the players. Keegan's values related with me and how he wanted to develop me as a person as well as a player. Family is super important to me, and the staff makes it feel like a family. I have a lot of little girls back home that look up to me, and being able to play in front of them at the University of Minnesota is super special to me. My friends and family can come to every game too.
GS: What was your official visit here like? CG: I loved it, I took it with the other signees in my class. We went around campus, went out to eat, did a photoshoot and hung out with the coaches and the team. Meeting the other girls really helped solidify my decision. It's nice having other people here that I know and I'm excited to keep building our relationships.
GS: How has the adjustment to college been since enrolling in January? CG: It's been a lot but great at the same time. I'm glad I was able to come in January. The amount of small things that I'm working on or need to fix right now - I would have been so overwhelmed if I came in the fall and had to fix it in a month. I'm thankful my high school was able to let me come early. It really has been a seamless adjustment in the first few weeks. The school workload is much more than high school, but I've been able to adapt.
GS: Is there anything that has surprised you about your first few weeks of collegiate volleyball? CG: The one thing that I do like the most - I don't know if it surprised me, but it's that everyone is here for the same reason. In high school or club, not everyone wants to play at the next level. It's just so competitive here and everyone has the common goal to be the best we can. You're all in it together and everyone is rooting for you to improve and help the team.
GS: For someone that hasn't seen you play before, how would you give a scouting report on yourself? CG: I would say I like to go up and get the big kill and using my power. I can also be finesse, hitting different angles and using smart shots and placement. I'm also a very composed player and have a calm demeanor throughout my games. Whether we're up by a ton or down, I stay even-keeled and composed.
GS: Did you watch college volleyball on TV growing up? What about going to games? CG: I did not. I started watching a little bit when I was in high school. I'd watch the Final Four and championship but I would not be watching nightly or anything. I would talk to my club teammates and they knew all these former great college players from watching them when they were little. I didn't know of any. I just played because it was fun and I enjoyed getting better. My teammates now will talk about previous players here and I don't know who most are. I'm trying to be better and learn the history of Gopher volleyball.
GS: In terms of this season, what goals do you have for yourself and the team? CG: One of my goals as a freshman is to show leadership, even as a younger player. I always have so many thoughts in my head of things that I could say and I don't speak up. I want to insert myself when I have something to say and also give maximum effort to lead by example. Improving on my skills, watching film and leaning in to what the coaches are telling me is important. I want to push my teammates as much as I can and help us make a tournament run.
GS: What places around the Big Ten are you excited to play at? CG: I am looking forward to playing at Wisconsin since I have a lot of family members who were big Badgers fans. Also, UCLA and USC because I have never been out to the West Coast to play. Playing at Nebraska is going to be fun because they always sell out those games.
GS: What're your feelings about playing your first home games at the Pav? CG: I can't wait. Playing in front of sellout crowds is going to be amazing. I'm grateful that so many people love to watch this sport and want to come support us. I'm really looking forward to playing in that environment. All my family, my parents friends, etc. are so excited to come watch.
Gilk and her family on a ski trip this winterGS: Off the court, what do you like to do? GS: My family loves the outdoors. In the winter, I like to ski, ice fish and hike. I'm a movie person, so any excuse for a movie night, I'm in for. I love boating in the summer and going to cabins. Pickleball and spikeball are fun to play in the summer too. My sister's friend lives on a farm in Dayton, so I work there during the summers and they let us take the horses out when we're done working.
Rapid Fire:
Favorite Food: Sushi, chocolate croissants, ice cream, pickles
Fun Fact: We have two sets of twins in my family and I can do a round off back flip
Favorite Sport To Watch: Football or Basketball
Pro Sports Team: Minnesota Wild
Hidden Talent: I can play the Ukulele
Favorite Vacation Spot: Alaska or Switzerland
TV Shows: F.R.I.E.N.D.S., Gilmore Girls, Criminal Minds
Biggest Inspirations: My mom
