Nicole Walch steps out of the volleyball shadows

At 6-foot-2, it's hard to believe that Nicole Walch of Martin County (Stuart, Fla.) ever played in the shadow of anyone. But when her team won the Florida 5A volleyball state championship in 2009, Walch was not the top player on the team. That honor went to her sister, MaxPreps All-American Elise Walch.

Make no mistake: Nicole Walch is no longer just known as "Elise Walch's younger sister." After a junior season in which she earned All-American honors herself, Nicole Walch has become one of the most hotly recruited players in the country.

"Nicole was always in the shadow of her older sister Elise at the start of her career," said Martin County coach Krissy Schmidt. "Last year was her first year being ‘on her own' and she had a breakout year. Despite all the changes to the team last year, with a new coach and a new team, she made the best of the situation and had a phenomenal year. "

Besides posting 624 kills last year, Walch added 241 digs, 107 blocks and 51 aces. She also earned Florida 5A State Player of the Year honors and led Martin County to the 5A state championship match. She was the Scripps Howard Player of the Year and also found a spot in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd.



Her outstanding junior season led to a busy summer that saw Walch travel to London and Croatia as a member of the A2 Junior National Team.

"We played the British National Team in London and we went to Croatia to play in the Global Challenge," Walch said. "We won the tournament, playing against the Czech Republic and Pula Croatia. It was a lot of fun and a great experience."

While Schmidt may be relatively new to the Martin County volleyball program, it didn't take her long to realize the kind of talent she had in Walch.

"I had just recently moved into town from Chicago and I first saw Nicole play at a club practice. I remember watching her play in practice thinking what a phenomenal player she was," said Schmidt. "Following the practice, I immediately called my old coach, Russ Rose at Penn State, to see if they were recruiting her because I knew she had the potential to be a great Division I athlete."

Along the way, Schmidt has watched Walch develop from a pure hitter into an all-around player.

"She has worked very hard in the past year to really develop into a stronger passer. She is one of our main passers on the team and she is really becoming a threat in the back row," said Schmidt. "Nicole has also improved greatly on hitting a variety of shots to become more of a versatile player out of the front row. She has really become an even quicker attacker out of the middle as well."



To that end, Walch says that her No. 1 goal for the season is simply to improve her game.

"My goal for every season is to become a better player and work on my weaknesses," said Walch. "I always go into practice with the mindset of becoming a better all-around player."

Walch also has hopes of returning to the state finals and winning a third state championship. She knows the competition will be tough along the way.

"I think our team is working very hard in practices and really striving to go back to Lakeland and take home our third state championship," she said. "I think our biggest competition will be Venice. We have to play them in the region finals in order to make it to state this year. They are tough to beat because of their scrappiness."

Walch will not have to worry about the recruiting process during her senior year. She has committed to play in-state at Florida State after originally committing to play at Nebraska.

In Tallahassee, Walch will rejoin her sister Elise as a member of the Seminoles. Similar to Nicole, Elise played a year at Wisconsin before returning to her home state and attending Florida State.



"The recruiting process was kind of difficult for me because I was young and didn't know what I truly wanted," said Walch. "I committed to the University of Nebraska and then I had second thoughts and I decided it would be best for me and my family for me to stay closer to home. I will be graduating early and will head there in January. I'm looking forward to representing Florida State."

Watch more videos of Martin County volleyball