Family Affair at the Valparaiso Popcorn Classic

Indianapolis--When sophomore setter Kelsey Berrington takes the court for Valparaiso on Friday versus Eastern Michigan for the Popcorn Classic, it won’t be a typical home game.

Some players might have family in the stands, while others may have family watching on the Horizon League Network (http://www.horizonleague.org/live/9068).

However, this matchup will be different than any other in the Popcorn Classic. Kelsey’s mother Kim is in her 18^th season as the Head Coach of the Eastern Michigan Eagles.

“I’ve had my team at the Popcorn Classic but it was years ago,” said Kim. “Once Carin (Avery) started recruiting my daughter we talked about getting back to Valpo; whether they came to our place or we went to their place.”

That came to fruition when Eastern Michigan accepted an invite to the 2013 Popcorn Classic held Sept. 6-7 at the Valparaiso Athletics-Recreation Center (ARC). However, making it to Friday’s game at 8:00 p.m. E.T. didn’t come easy for Eastern Michigan.

“Once Valpo got their schedule finalized I changed two of my midweek matches so we could see Valpo. Carin has done a great job about letting me know about her schedule as soon as possible” said Kim.

Kim saw her daughter play about eight or nine times during her freshman season. The freshman was the only Crusader to play in all 33 matches last season and led the team in assists and service aces which earned her a spot on the Horizon League All-Newcomer Team.

“Coming in as a freshman and playing as much as I did gives me confidence knowing that I’m the setter and knowing I want to do even better than last year and win the Horizon League” Kelsey said.

According to Kim the scouting report on Kelsey is simple, “She’s a player. She’s not the biggest, tallest or fastest, but she knows the game and has a high IQ. The greatest compliment I could give any player is saying she’s a player, and that’s her.”

Valparaiso head coach Carin Avery talked about recruiting Kelsey and echoed Kim comments, “I knew she would be a competitor and her volleyball IQ would be awesome. I knew she had the two things I look for; the IQ and competiveness and she has those two things.”

She had the attributes the Valpo coach wanted, but how would Avery convince a recruit to spurn the volleyball team she grew up rooting for, especially when the recruit calls that program’s head coach, ‘Mom.’

“Her whole life, she told me she was going to be an Eagle and I hoped and crossed my fingers she would be good enough to play at the Division I level,” Kim said. “Coincidentally, I found out I needed a setter the year she would graduate, I realized at that point she was good enough to be a D1 setter I got excited but I still wanted her to go through the process as all kids do and figure out what’s best for her.”

As high school progressed, Kelsey began to come to the realization that maybe being an Eagle wasn’t in her best interest and that it was time to make her name elsewhere.

“As I grew up I realized I needed to get away from home and grow up,” Kelsey said. “I considered Eastern Michigan my home; I knew everyone on campus, everyone knew who I was. By the time I was a sophomore or junior I decided that maybe I should go somewhere else and make a name for myself.”

While in the process of looking for schools, Carin was playing with Kim at a sand volleyball tournament and casually mentioned she was looking for a setter in Kelsey’s class. One thing led to another, and Kelsey made a visit to Valparaiso.

“I fell in love with Carin, the team, the coaches. I just knew in my heart that I wanted to go to Valpo” Kelsey said.

The decision to leave the nest and go away for college is a tough message for any high school student to give to their parents, but it was made easier by the fact that Kelsey’s parents are big supporters of college students getting a true college experience.

“It’s not so much she didn’t want to go to Eastern. It’s that she wanted to get away for the college experience,” Kim said. “We live about half-an-hour from Eastern and most kids commute to the school and my husband and I are always talking to people about living in the dorms and let them experience college and the stresses and the roommates and making friends. She had always heard us say that so she knew we believed in that to have that go away experience. She went to preschool across from my office on campus, she was in the dorms every summer at camps, she’s been to every building on campus. She made a great decision, it was probably hard to tell (me) when she made that decision, but my husband and I are fortunate we were able to give her those opportunities.”

After waiting a couple months for Coach Avery to finishing evaluating her setters, she offered Kelsey a scholarship to play at Valparaiso.

“I wanted Valpo right away. I was waiting and waiting and didn’t talk to any other coaches.  When she offered me on the phone I said yes right away, I didn’t even have to think about it, it just came out. It was a very exciting moment.”

Although disappointed she didn’t end up being an Eagle, her mother was happy to see her end up at Valparaiso.

“I couldn’t have single handily picked a better place, philosophically Carin and I approach volleyball very similar, she handles her team similarly they are a family. I couldn’t be more pleased. The really cool part was Kelsey saw that and felt that on the visit. She loved the girls. She wanted to be coached by that coaching staff. She had all those feelings and recognized them and put them into words and said yes this is the type of program I want to be involved in and it made that decision easier. “

Now comes a first for the 18-year Head Coach, coaching against her daughter.

“I was lying in bed a few months ago realizing that after the match I’m probably going to be unhappy. Either Valpo is going to come out ahead and I’m going to be unhappy or Eastern is going to come out ahead and I know my daughter is going to be unhappy and she hates to lose. Either way it’s a no-win situation. But I’m sure I’ll have a moment during a timeout I’ll look over there and be so proud to see her in uniform representing Valpo and the great situation she’s in.”