NEWPORT NEWS

Katelyn Newsome hasn’t let a shoulder injury she sustained during her junior year at Christopher Newport University hold her back from having the best season of her collegiate volleyball career this fall. On Nov. 14, the American Volleyball Coaches Association awarded the Newsoms native and 2014 Southampton Academy graduate honorable mention on its list of Division III all-American athletes for 2017.

According to CNU’s athletics department, Newsome is the 16^th athlete in the university’s volleyball program’s history to earn all-American honors from the AVCA. She was also named first team all-region this year when the team made it to regionals, and first team all-conference.

“It has been a dream of mine to come this far in my volleyball career,” Newsome said. “I never thought this day would come and after having my shoulder surgery my junior season, I really wanted to bounce back.”

Following the completion of her junior season, Newsome learned that she had torn her labrum, which, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, is a piece of fibrocartilage attached to the rim of the shoulder socket that helps keep the ball of the joint in place. The injury, she said, had developed slowly throughout her volleyball career. Her doctor also informed her that several cysts had formed around the injury.

Rehabilitation following the surgery and getting back into shape in time for her senior season took “a lot of physical therapy, a lot of patience and determination,” she said. “When I was finally released to be able to hit/swing again I had to just push through and get back into it. I had to push all those negative thoughts and fears out of my head and just get back into it with no self doubt. I had to trust myself and had to believe in myself, I had to believe that my shoulder was going to hold up and I had to believe that I was going to get through this no matter what.”

Newsome has played volleyball since ninth grade when she joined a club team called Virginia Beach Elite. She also played varsity high school volleyball for the Lady Raiders at Southampton Academy from 10^th through 12^th grade, earning team MVP and all-conference honors every season. During her junior and senior years at SA, she earned all-tournament honors and as a senior, she was named conference MVP.

“That [Virginia Beach Elite] really taught me a lot and ever since then I got interested in going to volleyball camps,” she said. “Ever since then it was basically my life and love.”

She was recruited to Christopher Newport as a middle blocker and has also played right side for the CNU Captains.

“When I was looking into colleges for volleyball, CNU’s program was out of this world,” Newsome said. “The volleyball team at CNU is one big giant family; we’re like sisters. We’re best friends. We do everything together. My coach was like another mom.”

She will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a minor in psychology in 2018 and is considering pursuing a career in either graphic design or website design. She is undecided on whether to move back home to Newsoms but said that wherever she ends up, she will continue to pursue volleyball in some capacity.

“I thought about coming back home and coaching,” she said. “I’m thinking of doing beach volleyball tournaments. It’s something I can’t let go of; it’s going to be part of my life forever.”

She is the daughter of Steve and Bonnie Newsome.