Athlete of the Week: Wallace Records Double Doubles

The Harvard women’s volleyball team has been infected with the injury bug this year. Having lost the services of junior Grace Weghorst for the year and freshman Christina Cornelius for the past two weekends, the team has had to rely on each player to step up and pick up their slack in order to grind through an arduous conference schedule.

Senior Kathleen Wallace has answered the call each and every weekend this fall, but none more impressive than last weekend’s road trip.

Wallace recorded two consecutive double-doubles this weekend, leading her team to an important victory against Cornell on Saturday after coming off of a loss to Columbia. Against the Lions, the San Francisco, Calif. native logged a season-high 19 kills and career-best 17 digs, and then answered with 18 kills and 14 kills against Cornell.

Wallace started off the season on a whole new level of play, recording her career first double- double against Rutgers on the first game of the season. Yet Wallace’s stellar senior season was almost cut short by an ankle injury in the preseason. Wallace hasn’t allowed her injury to slow her down, turning in double-digit kills in five out of seven conference games.

“She did all the recovery that she needed to do and just got it done,” co-captain Caroline Holte said. “She knows that she is a really big asset to our team and that we really needed her. She just wanted to, through any means, get back on the court because it is her, our, last season and she knows how special that is.”

Wallace’s dedication and diligence was rewarded when she was able to play in the Ivy opener against Dartmouth. Stepping back in midseason just as the team was closing up nonconference play, Wallace has proven that she is vital to the Crimson’s success.

“She’s been really coming out, firing on all cylinders during Ivy League play,” said sophomore outside hitter Paige Kebe. “She’s really stepped up during crucial time when we need her, which is awesome to be able to rely on her as a teammate.”

Wallace’s biggest asset might be the consistency she brings to the court. She has been a key player for Harvard all four years, never having recorded less than two kills per set in a season in her career.

“She is really a rock that you can rely on, emotionally and physically,” Holte said. “I think the setters feel really confident pushing up balls to her in pressure filled situations. For Cornell the whole game was a pressure filled situation, but yet Wally remained steady.”

As a senior Wallace relies on a lead by example style to motivate her teammates and lead the team. Although not a captain nominally, she holds an important leadership position alongside co-captains Holte and Hannah Schmidt and fellow senior libero Sindhu Vegesena.

“The way I see myself as a leader is as someone who has strong court presence and by wanting to motivate my teammates through action,” said Wallace.

While Wallace is all business on the court, Wallace sheds her normal exterior and brings a fierceness and an aura to the court that energizes her teammates.

“In games she becomes just a fireball. It’s so cool to watch the transformation of Wally because she is such a kind soul off the court, but when it comes to game time she puts her game face on,” Holte said. “She is extremely competitive and extremely fun to play with because she pours every part of herself onto the court and just leaves it all on the court.”

Harvard looks to continue to lean on Wallace as the team tries to win a back-to-back Ivy League title.

“She knows that this her last season and she is playing with that kind of pressure,” Holte said. “I’m so proud of her and she is someone I look up to.”