Kate McCullagh has been inspired by three main influ-ences in her life: her parents, Michael Jordan and her friend Danielle Miller.

Miller and McCullagh were teammates for the Sky High club volleyball team before Miller became a walk-on at North Carolina-Charlotte.

“She was on the team for two years, and was going to get a full-ride,” McCullagh said, “but she got in a car accident.” McCullagh’s friend died in the fatal accident.

“She inspires me to play to my hardest because she played for free and for the love of the game,” the Woodstock native said.

McCullagh wasn’t always the dominating Division-I player she has been this year for the Huskies.

She began playing volleyball in seventh grade, but wasn’t yet tabbed a standout player.

“I was on the team again in eighth grade, and the coach told me that I was only on the team because I was tall,” the six-foot middle blocker said.

That comment gave McCullagh the drive to join Sky High to prove her coach wrong. Although McCullagh gained experience from being on the team, she never was the focus or the star.

“I really didn’t play,” she said. “I was the backup, I was never the star.”

Despite her spot on the roster, NIU coach Ray Gooden, then an assistant coach at Loyola, saw untapped potential.

“I had been to some practices and was impressed by her athletic ability,” Gooden said. “Some of their players were developed, but she was the diamond in the rough.”

In 2002, Gooden was named head coach at NIU, which became an ideal situation for McCullagh.

From her first day as a Huskie, McCullagh began to work to unleash the potential of her ability.

“She was in the gym every day her freshman year,” senior kinesiology major Marie Zidek recalled. “Ray would just feed her ball cart after ball cart.”

It was Gooden who initially spotted McCullagh’s raw ability and later harvested it.

“Ray was really rough with me, but it paid off,” McCullagh said. “He saw potential in me, and pushed me as hard as I could go.”

Three years later, the junior has become the national leader in kills per game since the end of September.

Despite all the hype and buzz, McCullagh remains modest about her accomplishments.

“It’s a really good feeling, a lot of people have been congratulating me,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s really hit me yet. I’m trying not to think about it.”

Gooden maintains McCullagh’s stats are a result of her outstanding athletic ability.

“There’s some things she can do athletically that other people just can’t do,” Gooden said.

McCullagh’s game has matured in her three years at NIU, something she attributes to her success.

“I started out wanting to spike the ball every time,” McCullagh said. “Now I’m smarter. I’m being smarter about the game instead of just going for a kill.”

Although McCullagh is a national leader, this season has been a challenge, as she has had to fit into a new role as a leader and as a center of attention from opposing teams.

“I think I need to be more of a leader because our team is so young,” McCullagh said.

“She’s working hard in understanding her new role,” Gooden said. “She embraces her new role.”

While McCullagh is trying to adjust to her new role, Zidek believes the middle blocker has found a unique way to express her leadership.

“In hockey terms, she’s our enforcer,” Zidek said. “She can make a play, but she can also stand up for other players.”

While McCullagh is easing into her new role as the team leader, she also has to face the additional pressure that opposing teams have placed on her.

“Now when I play other teams, I see their coaches tell their players to get on McCullagh,” she said. “Usually you see a coach tell his players to get on the number of the opposing player, seeing a coach tell his players to get on McCullagh is a challenge for me.”

McCullagh isn’t hard to spot on the court, either. The junior wears a black lace on her right shoe and a pink one on her left.

“It’s a testament to Kate’s personality.” Zidek said. “It’s what gives Kate her X-factor.”

“I wonder if other teams think, ‘is the crazy one with the pink arm band and two different color shoe laces leading the nation in kills per game?’” McCullagh said.

Zidek believes McCullagh’s goofy side, from her mis-matched laces to her off-beat sense of humor, helps to keep the team loose in stressful times,

“Cabbage: That’s the word she says in the huddle before we go out every game,” Zidek said. “That’s Kate. It makes sense, but at the same time it doesn’t.”

Zidek said the junior brings the fun to the team.

“It’s the reason I’ve continued to play,” Zidek said.