KU's Scholar Athlete

For 6-foot-2 Volleyball Player, All Roads Lead to Indiana

Scholar-athlete-Kendall-BeermanKendall Beerman
• School: Tates Creek High
• Grade: 11th
• Sports: Volleyball
• Academics: Kendall has a 3.6 GPA in advanced classes and was Student of the Month in August.
• Parents: Mary Beth & Chris

Was there any doubt that All-State player Kendall Beerman would play volleyball at Indiana University?

Only a junior at Tates, Creek, Kendall already has committed to the Big Ten school.

Which makes sense given her family ties to volleyball and the Hoosier state.

Kendall’s parents, Mary Beth and Chris, grew up in Indiana and were volleyball players at Ball State.

Mary Beth was a two-time, all-state high school player and Chris was a two-time All-American in college, leading Ball State to three NCAA Final Fours.

Chris’s father, Tom, played for team USA in the 1970 World Championships and built what may be the first beach volleyball court in the Midwest when he installed one in his backyard in rural Indiana four decades ago.

After college, Chris, now the owner of the Lexington United volleyball club, worked for 20 years as a college coach, including stops at Louisville, Pittsburgh and UK.

That means that Kendall grew up on a volleyball court. As a baby, she fit nicely into a ball rack at practice and toddled around at practice until she could start playing herself.

At Tates Creek Middle, the 6-foot-2 Kendall led the Commodores to back-to-back City basketball titles but by then she was already a starter on the Tates Creek varsity volleyball team.

She was a first-team All-City player in eighth grade and has been All State in all three years of high school, even though Tates Creek has yet to reach the state tournament.

A versatile player, Kendall never leaves the court and averages about five kills per set, giving her more than 2,500 in her high school career.

She has received national attention on her club team, coached by her father, earning first-team All-American this year.

She has played in Florida, Cincinnati, Chicago and Houston but all roads lead back to Indiana.

After her freshman year, Kendall made an unofficial visit to Indiana and met with Coach Sherry Dunbar, who was Mary Beth’s college teammate.

Commitment to Indiana secured.

“I visited other schools but even though Indiana was my first visit, it’s still No. 1,” Kendall said.

Indiana will get a player with good academics — she is a 3.6 student in advanced classes — and a ferocious competitor.

“She is team oriented, humble and has a great work ethic,” Chris said. “But on the court, she is nasty. The bigger the game, the better she plays.”

Said Kendall: “I am very intense and I try to intimidate my opponents. When it comes to hitting the ball as hard as I can, I have no remorse.”

Sounds like a coach’s dream.

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