From being the baby in the ball cart to being the little girl following her mom around the gym, volleyball has always been a part of Kaylee Maat’s life.
Now, she’s a record-breaking senior with the Ferris State volleyball team during what may be the best season in school history. The Bulldogs sit at 28-0 and are ranked No.1 in the country alongside Maat, breaking the all-time GLIAC assists record. Still, Maat remains humble even with her accomplishments.
“I mean it’s cool to have my name out there, but it’s just a cool little thing that came along with how successful we’ve been this season,” Maat said. “But this record was never in the picture with me. We have bigger things we are trying to do this season.”
Maat’s story started at Hudsonville High School in seventh grade, coached by her mother Shelley Maat, also a college volleyball player.
“I coached her seventh-grade team,” Shelley said. “I made her one of my setters even though she wanted to be a hitter because at that age I needed an athletic girl who had knowledge of the game and had great hands, needless to say, she loved setting and continued in that role.”
While at Hudsonville she became one of West Michigan’s top performers, being a three-time all-league, all-area and all-region choice while racking up all-state accolades coming from the setter position.
Kaylee’s choice to commit to Ferris State was an easy one for her, although she was not a big fan of the recruiting process.
“Recruiting was not fun, I don’t think it’s fun for anyone, it’s literally like being put on a pedestal with everyone watching your every move, and this is what I don’t like,” Kaylee said. “But I think I had as good a process as you could get, I talked to a bunch of coaches and found out this is what I have been looking for, and I absolutely adored everything that coach Tia [Brandel-Wilhelm] did and is still doing to this day.”
However, her rise has not been without obstacles. When Kaylee committed to Ferris State for volleyball, she had people doubting her for choosing DII athletics.
“People were almost doubting me, when I committed everyone was saying, ‘Oh she’s going DII, why aren’t you going to DI’ and I always responded with because this is best for me, and now those people who doubted me, have transferred from DI down to DII and I kept telling them that this is what I have been trying to tell you.”
Her mother remembers a story of Kaylee and her sister while her sister attended volleyball camp.
“Kaylee would always come along to the gym when her older sister attended volleyball camps, as Kaylee was too young at the time,” Shelley said. “She would always be on the side of the court playing around with volleyballs. At this young age, Kaylee had butter hands, and the camp director saw her and told her to start setting the ball against the wall, so she continued to wall set every time she was in a gym with volleyballs. I think this was the start of her setting career.”
While at Ferris, she has gained the love and respect of her teammates and her coaches.
Brandel-Wilhelm had high praise for Maat’s work ethic throughout her career.
“Kaylee is a woman that has had to work hard to become the player that she is,” Brandel-Wilhelm said. “That girl is in the gym every day, all summer. It’s just nice to see someone work that hard and have it pay off for them.”
With Maat’s final season as a Bulldog coming to a close, she offered advice to incoming freshman and volleyball players everywhere.
“You have to soak every possible moment up, and when you look back at your whole career, you’ll never regret spending too much time in the gym or too much time practicing,” Kaylee said. “You will never regret putting too much effort into your team on or off the court.”