by Evan Craig
Team USA photos courtesy of International Volleyball Hall of Fame
The Quincy Notre Dame girl’s volleyball team has developed a reputation of excellence throughout its fifty-year history, winning four state titles.
Perhaps no team in program history was as dominant as the 1980 squad led by future Olympian Caren Kemner and head coach Bill Starkey. The Raiders finished 34-0, marking its second undefeated campaign in three seasons.
Kemner discovered volleyball in her freshman year, later than many of her teammates. Although that year marked her first time playing organized, high-level volleyball, everything appeared to be a natural fit.
“My primary sport, I would like to think back in the day was softball, but volleyball, I really took a shine to it,” Kemner said. “I would say about my sophomore year, I felt like my body, my athleticism was designed for the sport and I ran with it.”
Maybe it was destiny that volleyball chose Kemner. The Raiders won the state title in her sophomore year. Despite a late introduction to the sport, Kemner’s athleticism served her well, given she was named to the IHSA All-State team in three consecutive years from 1980-82.
Among all the outstanding upperclassmen on the team, Kemner cited Debbie (Lawrence) Azotea and Karen Heinze as two players she admired them from afar at an early age.
“They were people I watched and followed when I was in grade school as I was learning about Notre Dame and knowing that’s where I was going to high school,” Kemner said. “They (Azotea and Heinze) played all three sports [volleyball, basketball and softball] and were very dynamic. I think they showed me the way, they made it possible that women could be in sports at a high level.”
Azotea and Heinze are members of the QND Hall of Fame and led the school to its first state championship during the 1978 season.
Even with their presence, Kemner explained she had plenty to catch-up on as she advanced further into her volleyball career. Part of her mission was to improve her passing which was unfamiliar territory because she “was never required to” in high school or collegiately at the University of Arizona.
Fortunately for her, Kemner’s mission proved successful as she was a member of the U.S. National Team from 1985-96, and appeared in three Olympics -- Seoul (1988), Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996) -- winning a bronze medal at the Barcelona games.
Having the opportunity to play professionally overseas and represent her country was an “eye-opening” experience for Kemner.
“Being in the Olympics is something I did, but being an Olympian is something that I’m very proud of, because it’s a very small group of women throughout the generation of the sport that have been able to make it that far, and have the opportunity to compete in three Olympics was very special,” Kemner said.
At one point, the women’s national team was ranked number one in the world, and “rightfully so,” according to Kemner. While being an Olympian was “not always roses and rainbows,” Kemner expressed gratitude for volleyball taking her on a journey through history.
“Having the experience to unfortunately or fortunately be in China during Tiananmen Square, just things that now we talk about -- a part of history, like gosh, I was there during this window,” Kemner said. “So it was a really unique walk through history, which just kind of added to the pleasure of playing sport, a sport that I love, and still do at the highest level.”
Following Kemner’s stellar volleyball career, she was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2013.
Kemner was on a train heading for Chicago for a speaking engagement when she received the official letter in the mail, which included an unexpected appearance from a past teammate to help celebrate the news with her.
“I had my mail and I was going through it -- I got the hard copy mail, not email -- that I had been inducted into the Hall of Fame,” Kemner began. “At that time, literally at that same time, my high school setter was on the train and was walking down the aisle. [She was] someone I had known since grade school. We played softball together and we’re dear friends.”
Call it fate or what have you, there was likely no better way for Kemner’s illustrious volleyball career and her time at QND to come full circle than in that special moment.
