Kendal Meier picks Illinois State

CEDAR RAPIDS — Kennedy High School's recent volleyball pipeline to the Division-I level continues to expand.

Senior-to-be Kendal Meier has committed to play at Illinois State University in 2017, she confirmed Thursday morning.

'They started recruiting me early during club season. I took a couple visits and fell in love with it,' she said.

Meier becomes the fifth Kennedy player in two years to advance to the big-time NCAA level. Anna Fluent (Loyola of Illinois), Brinley Milbrath (Northern Illinois) and Macy Anderson (Nebraska-Omaha) will be college freshmen.

Paige Franck, a senior-to-be at Kennedy, chose the University of Iowa.

Illinois State was 22-10 last season, 12-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Meier picked the Redbirds over Bowling Green, Bradley, Upper Iowa and Lewis University

'The girls there are so kind and welcoming,' Meier said. 'It felt like family. The campus is beautiful.'

Meier averaged 2.22 digs per set last season as Kennedy (29-10) reached the state tournament.

'We lost a lot of key players, but we have a lot of experience coming back,' Meier said.

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