Kelsey Gordon – Junior – Middle Hitter – Biology
When did you start playing volleyball?
KG: I started when I was going into fifth grade. I started with a recreational volleyball league in Emporia, where I’m from. The next season is when I got into playing in small club tournaments, just around different areas of town. Once I got into high school, I was on the high school team. That’s when I started coming up to Topeka to play club volleyball because the competition level is a bit higher. I played some pretty competitive volleyball and that’s how I found my way to Washburn.
Did you play other sports growing up? How did playing those sports help develop your skills?
KG: I played soccer and softball growing up. When I got to middle school, that’s when I was introduced to basketball and track. In high school, I ended up playing volleyball, basketball, track and field, and softball. Being a multisport athlete is incredibly important for any athlete, especially as a young athlete. I think being well-rounded in multiple areas can help build skill development for every single kind of sport.
Throughout your volleyball career, who has influenced you the most?
KG: I think the most influential person was Jill Sikes. She was the graduate assistant coach here at Washburn during my freshman season. Jill was so diligent in her work as a coach and she was so compassionate. She really cared about us as individuals and as players. I think her passion for the game of volleyball was something that I absolutely loved, but also her attention to detail off the court as well.
What has been the most exciting moment in your career at Washburn?
KG: The most memorable moment was when we met our Make-A-Wish kid when we went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her name is Madison. Meeting her was one of our greatest accomplishments as a team – building that relationship with her as a person and as a team. We met her during our Final Four run in 2018. Last year, we were able to fundraise and have her come to Topeka and see Washburn and experience Kansas for the first time. The joy in her eyes is absolutely amazing. I think that’s something I’ll hold on to forever.
Since the fall season has been suspended, how have you been spending your extra time?
KG: I’ve been enjoying cooking a lot more. I usually get in the habit of cooking the same meals every time because it’s simple and easy and I know how to do it but now I’ve been venturing off into some new recipes. I just made a mushroom chicken marsala pasta and that was the highlight of all the recipes I tried. As a team, we’ve been practicing yoga, doing some swimming and we’ve also been doing adulting 101 classes. We’ve been very fortunate that Coach Chris Herron and Haley Kindall have been very proactive in trying to build our skill set as individuals off the court.
Talk about some of the projects you have participated in, being a biology major.
KG: During the genetics class as Washburn, there’s a semester-long fruit fly project. Basically, we’re trying to determine an inheritance pattern in these genetic mutations for fruit flies. That’s basically the gist of why I was the mom to about 400-500 fruit flies over the semester.
[Currently] I’ve been fortunate enough to hop onto Dr. Benjamin Reed’s turtle research program. The project is about body condition and coming out of fermentation, and how it affects the length and duration of the time a turtle is in fermentation. I’m a biology and environmental biology major and we need research hours so this counts as a one credit hour class.
Favorite show to binge watch?
KG: I just finished watching Game of Thrones, like everyone else has. Everybody told me I would love it so I started watching it. It was so good until season seven and eight when they basically rushed to finish the whole series.
