5-Star Performer: Kamery keeping Minden volleyball unbeaten, earns 1,000th career kill

MINDEN, Neb. (KSNB) - In Minden, Mattie Kamery has been on the radar for a while.

“Probably when she was in sixth, seventh grade,” Minden volleyball coach Julie Ratka said.

Kamery has been involved with volleyball since her youth.

“She was a student-manager with us for a long time when she was little and you could tell she just had it then,” Ratka said.

“Especially her coming in as freshman, I think she made that transition really smoothly and so it was fun to be able to watch her and just hear of all her success,” added Jensen Rowse, a sophomore libero at UNK and the all-time kills leader for Minden.

Now a junior for the currently undefeated Whippets, Kamery just hit her 1,000th career kill last week.

“I don’t like to be the one to be there and talk about it, but for sure I’d say it was a big step,” Kamery said. “Finally getting there felt really good and to have that under my belt.”

And it’s no small feat for Kamery, who’s just one month removed from committing to the nation’s top-ranked Division II volleyball program Wayne State.

“She’s just a special kid,” Ratka said. “Every year she gets a little bit better.”

The milestone came during a stretch that saw Minden beat previously undefeated Gothenburg and GICC.

“Wow, we’ve had a big week, big games,” Kamery said. “I think that was part of the reason it finally settled in. I was thinking back, I was like, ‘Why am I so exhausted?’ I looked back and I was like, ‘We’ve had nine games in 10 days.’”

Kamery is continuing to write her Whippet story.

“She’s following some great players, so just the legacy that they have left, but also the legacy that she’s leaving here on on our program and little girls are watching her,” Ratka said.

With the goal of rewriting the Minden record books.

“My goal is up there on that record board and it’s to go break Jensen’s record of her career kills,” Kamery said.

“It means a lot,” Rowse added. “Having someone to look up to, I think, is a huge thing. For me to be that person to her, it feels really good.”

Beyond that, she’s hoping to bring back the first state title since 1980.

“It’s really exciting and you feel achieved, but there’s so much more that’s left on the court,” Kamery said.

Copyright 2023 KSNB. All rights reserved.