Volleyball senior stays active off the court

WADESBORO — One senior volleyball player only finds herself indoors when she’s on the court, otherwise the adventurous three-sport athlete spends her time in the sun and with family.

Katie Horne is currently wrapped up in the middle of Anson High School’s very condensed volleyball season and adjusting to a finals season in a virtual school year.

For months, Horne and her senior teammates were worried of not even having a volleyball season because of COVID-19. That worry got pushed aside and extra hard work filled the Bearcats’ gym in order to quickly transform the team into game-day mode.

Excitement and readiness showed on Horne and the players, well from what you can see behind their masks which they have to wear throughout the game.

But the delay of a season and uncertainty didn’t seem to trip up Horne.

The senior is constantly staying active between three sports, working with her dad and hunting or fishing with her family, leaving her little time to spend reading, which is one of her hobbies.

“I like to work with my dad and with our family on our farm,” Horne said. “Right now, I’m just mainly working with my dad on our home farm. We have some goats here. They’re more like pets. We’ve named them all!”

Horne noted almost everything her father does, she has picked up on — building, repairs and wiring houses. Together they have built a dog pen and goat barn at their house. She loves these projects and said it gives the two of them quality time together, in between her packed schedule.

“He learned from it his dad and his uncle and I’ve learned it from him,” Horne said. “It’s been nice and it’s just another time we get to spend together besides him being my softball coach for travel ball. My dad only has two girls and he kind of just bonds with us by doing things he likes to do. We follow him around and like spending time with him.”

Her time spent with her father on these projects is leading her to a possible career path in engineering, although she is not positive yet if this is what she wants to study.

“My dad is an electrician so I’ve always liked doing work with him and I’ve always liked math and science,” Horne said. “When I started taking the engineering classes at the high school, I found I really like it…I’m leaning towards electrical (engineering) because of working with my dad for so many years.”

Horne is focusing on her next steps in education, instead of worrying about being recruited for softball.

“I’ve always wanted to make sure I go to a college where I can succeed in my academics more than worrying about getting to play college sports,” Horne said in the unfortunate turn of events where her chances of getting recruited for softball diminish due to the coronavirus.

The active senior also loves hunting and fishing, a hobby she’s learned from her father and uncle. She notes that hunting brings together her entire family.

The Horne’s compete annually in the Chamber of Commerce Big Hunt Tournament. This past year, she said only shot a small doe and did not enter it into the competition, but quickly gave credit to her younger sister for entering a buck during her first year in the tournament.

“(Hunting) is always something we’ve always done all together,” Horne said. “I don’t even remember a time we haven’t done hunting and fishing.”

As the weekend of hunting and few days off for the Thanksgiving holiday wear off, Horne gets back to the gym for the next volleyball game.

“It was a nice break from getting constantly screened in, wearing masks and sweating,” Horne said about her rare days off.

Horne mentioned the team has just accepted wearing the masks and adopted to the new normal of how sports typically look. The team is getting used to playing and sweating in masks, but she said it is still hard to breathe through the extra layer.

“I think it has helped us all focus on school again,” Horne said. “It helped us get out of the house everyday instead of being quarantined for nine months.”

Those nine months brought the team closer together, according to Horne. The team, especially the seniors, have been communicating more outside of volleyball.

“You can tell there has been a lot going on this year,” Horne said. “Everybody just wants to do good and make it count while it lasts.”

Even through these difficult months, Horne has been able to keep her adventurous spirit alive and active through all of her sports and hobbies.