Catherine Conlisk, senior and Varsity volleyball player for SJHHS, has formally committed to Seattle University.

Catherine has been competing for several years now, starting her volleyball career at the age of 12 where she played as a middle blocker for teams like A4 Volley. She has since moved on to play for Laguna Beach Volleyball Club. In addition to outside clubs, Catherine has been part of the volleyball team at SJHHS since her freshman year, starting out on Junior Varsity but quickly moving to Varsity her sophomore year. 

This transition from team to team went on while she was simultaneously invested in another sport, softball, which she eventually quit due to the time-consuming obligations of volleyball. 

“I had to sacrifice playing softball, which was my favorite sport ever. It still is definitely one of my top sports but I had to quit that if I wanted to be full time,” said Conlisk.

As a young senior, Catherine has been playing with teammates mostly older than her from the very beginning. The pressures of that, however, were minor in comparison to the years of college scouting she dealt with. 

“It started when I was probably 14, I’d be playing and I’d see UCLA and USC and it was just crazy,” said Conlisk. 

While playing in tournaments around the country, Catherine would see scouts representing countless  schools, walking around courts and jotting down notes as the games progressed.

Seattle University, however, was one of the newer schools to spot Catherine, first reaching out to her only a few months ago, around June to July of 2021. Catherine soon got on call with the University, and then sent them videos of her playing.

Quite recently, Seattle University flew her out, where she was able to meet the team and tour campus. Conlisk committed two days later.

“The main thing that caught my attention were the coaches, they were just amazing and I loved them,” said Conlisk.

The entire process was conveniently familiar to the Conlisk family, because Conlisk’s father went through the same experience as a college basketball player. This familiarity helped her to feel more comfortable throughout recruitment. 

“He went through the whole recruiting process as a young kid so he was able to kind of give me some tips and help me through kind of the same thing,” said Conlisk

Along with the expected- playing for Seattle University’s volleyball team- Catherine will major in Kinesiology. 

“I’ve always been wanting to do that, since I took Sports Medicine as a freshman,” said Conlisk.

Surrounded by three hospitals, Seattle University offers good resources for students like Conlisk who are pursuing a career in the medical field.

With this in mind, she is going to have her hands full in Seattle, and is undoubtedly on her way to an exciting future.