Naperville North's Ward picks Florida
Naperville North girls volleyball player Colleen Ward was always partial to the University of Florida during her long recruiting process.
Now she's made it official.
A couple days after making her last official visit to Florida, Ward signed with the Gators.
"It was always kind of my favorite," Ward said of Florida, "but after I took my officials it kind of got harder to pick one."
Ward chose Florida over Michigan and Texas. The 6-foot-2 outside hitter said it was a "very tough" decision, but she just got a good feeling about the school in Gainesville, Fla.
"After I went on my visit it just seemed like it was the right fit for me," Ward said. "I just felt really comfortable with the team and I liked the coaches a lot.
"All of the schools that I had it down to, I liked everything about all of them. I was just seeing which one I felt best at."
Florida is ranked 10th in the latest CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll with a 27-2 record.
Ward is the fifth player to sign with the Gators, who have inked one of the top recruiting classes in the country.
In addition to Ward, who is ranked as the No. 7 senior in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com, they signed Joliet Catholic setter/right-side hitter Kelly Murphy, who the site ranks at the top recruit in country, and Bakersfield, Calif., middle hitter Cassie Anderson, who is No. 17.
Ward is a teammate of Murphy at the Sports Performance Volleyball Club, and the two also played together on the U.S. Women's Junior National Team at the 2007 FIVB U-20 Junior National World Championships this past summer in Thailand.
"Everyone thinks that influenced me a lot, but I've always liked (Florida) a lot," Ward said. "It's good that she's going there too, but it wasn't why I chose to go there."
Ward said Florida coach Mary Wise told her she could make an immediate impact.
"She said she can't guarantee it, but she said I have a good chance to play right away," Ward said.
Ward bucked the trend of girls volleyball players committing to a college as early as their sophomore year in high school.
"I just wanted to make sure that I had a chance to look at all the schools that I was interested in and just waited to see which one I really wanted to go to," she said. "I'm happy that I waited."
This past season, Ward totaled 457 kills, 46 blocks, 41 aces and 157 digs. She also passed at a 2.3 grade while powering the Huskies to a 33-5 record. Her school record 1,551 career kills rank fifth in state history, according to the Illinois High School Association.