NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State volleyball head coach Leah Johnson has announced that Northern Illinois' Kaylee Martin has signed to compete for the Redbirds. Martin will have three years of eligibility remaining when she joins Illinois State in 2018 after playing one season with the Huskies.
"We are excited to have Kaylee join our program," Johnson shared. "Kaylee matches our court, classroom and program culture at ISU. She is a high-character young woman and will fully exemplify what it means to be a Redbird student-athlete. She can attack with power and range, and has the skill set to compete as a six-rotation athlete."
Martin earned All-MAC First Team, All-MAC All-Freshman Team and Academic All-MAC honors after a successful rookie season with the Huskies in 2017. She led NIU with 3.78 kills per set – the third-most overall in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) – to go with the second-most digs per set (2.32) on the team. Martin turned in a career-high 34 kills to go with 20 digs at Bowling Green on Sept. 23, hitting .300 for the match. She earned MAC West Offensive Player of the Week laurels after averaging 5.0 kills per set and hitting .267 in the Huskies' pair of wins at Toledo and Ball State, registering a double-double in each match. The Sterling, Illinois, native finished her freshman campaign with double-digit kills in 14 of the last 15 matches.
Before Northern Illinois, she aided the Sterling High School Warriors to a 120-32-1 record, a four-year school record. Martin earned Second-Team All-State honors in 2015 and garnered First-Team All-Northern Illinois Big 12 honors four times. She was selected to the All-Quad Cities Team four times and named a player of the year three times, closing her career as the record holder for kills in a match (28), in a season (587) and a career (1,659).
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