Usher wants to leave a lasting contribution

In last Friday's upset win over defending ACC champion North Carolina, senior middle blocker Katie Usher stood about three feet behind the net and watched as two of her freshman teammates gave her a perfect setup.

After outside hitter Kara Bates successfully received the serve, setter Remy McBain placed the ball in great position for a jump spike.

Usher saw the pass and sprinted to the net. She jumped and slammed the ball in between a group of North Carolina defenders, giving the Terrapin volleyball team a 16-13 advantage. Led by Usher's eight kills and two blocks, the Terps (13-17, 5-12 ACC) would go on to win the set and eventually the match 3-1.

For Usher, this scene has become a constant happening nearly every game during her final two years of a storied individual career at this university. The program has struggled since hiring coach Tim Horsmon prior to the 2008 season, and although it varies from game to game, this year's starting lineup usually boasts two or three freshmen, one or two sophomores and a junior. The other starter is Usher.

Usher, who holds the program's single season record for block assists with 180, has no complaints, despite playing most of her career on teams that were rebuilding.

"I feel like I've had a lot of accomplishments," Usher said. "But the most fulfilling thing for me has been seeing the team grow as a whole. ... All I can really hope for when I leave is to leave a mark on the girls — leave them with some knowledge and confidence going into next year."

And when next year  finally rolls around, the Terps will feel the void left by Usher. In her four years as a Terp, Usher has entrenched herself in the record books. She is fourth in career block assists (368) and fifth in career total blocks (403). This year alone, she has recorded 263 kills en route to a team-best .320 hitting percentage.  She also has 24 service aces and 91 total blocks.

"When she's on, she's as good a middle as there is in the conference," Horsmon said. "She's a kid that we have to have within our program to steady us."

Usher, who stands at 6-foot-3, is soft-spoken, and players admit she's the type of person who leads not by telling but by example. And as a player that has been in the starting lineup for four years, she has been the glue holding the team together.

"[She leads through] her consistency," Horsmon said. "She's not a player that's going to go out there barking every five minutes. It's just how she plays and what she does.

"She's been the steadying force for us in what she brings and how she's gonna play," he continued. "We've had so many question marks from the last two years ... and I think she's probably been the one player who we knew what we were going to get from [every day]."

Usher, who hails from Vienna, Va., said she was not highly recruited out of high school. Virginia is not known for producing great volleyball talent, and she said only a few other ACC programs talked to her besides the Terps. But she said picking the Terps was easy, as the school was close to home and had good academics.

Once she arrived in College Park, she made an immediate impact, starting in her first career game.

"I remember it still," Usher said. "We played Indiana and I started. I was completely shocked and scared."

Teammates, especially fellow middle blockers Lisa Scott and Sara Shannon, realize what Usher does on the court. Her consistent play and good technique is a model for teammates to follow.

"Just watching her and everything [she] does helps me figure out ways I can be better," Shannon said. "It's just been great to have her to look up to."

"She's really important. Not only as somebody who's a friend to all of us, but also on the court," Scott said. "She's somebody that we rely on and that we're really going to miss when she's gone."

And when the day does come to move on, Usher has said she plans on continuing her education. But she wouldn't rule out the possibility of playing overseas, buoyed by her experience here.

Usher, who came to this university one year after the program had won back-to-back ACC titles, has only one winning season under her belt. Still, her passion for volleyball never diminished.
 

"I just loved it here so much the past four years," Usher said. "It's such a huge part of our lives, being everyday and so many hours taken to develop our game."

engelke@umdbk.com