SOUTH WHITLEY – Kaity Reed headed south for the winter, and decided it was worth staying.

The stud senior volleyballer from Whitko took another visit in December to Florida and decided it was time to commit to Southeastern University in Lakeland, where she will continue her volleyball and academic careers.

Reed has been the rock of the Whitko program her four years, coming on as a freshman and impacting the varsity ever since. The Wildcats finally got over its program bugaboo this past October, winning its first-ever sectional championship. In the journey through her four years, Reed became possibly the most decorated volleyballer in program history.

Reed leaves the program as holder of most of the Whitko all-time records, among the lot are kills in a season, kills in a career, digs in a season, digs in a career and career blocks.

Her senior year was as sparkling as anyone in the area. Reed’s 592 kills were more than double the next highest total. She also led the team in aces (54), blocks (56) and was second with 411 digs.

“To be able to do what I did at Whitko is very special to me,” Reed said during her signing celebration, which included cake, ice cream and over three dozen people stopping in to enjoy the moment. “To get that first sectional championship for Whitko, that was awesome. That’s something to be proud of, for Whitko, because we’re a small school and we wanted to win the first one so bad.”

Reed admitted to visiting Southeastern, an NAIA program, her sophomore year as the first place she checked out. While other programs closer to home showed interest, Reed felt Florida was right. Upon her last college visit, to Southeastern, the last look was the best one. Southeastern had kept in contact, and the two worlds collided. For Reed, it was a match made in heaven.

“I think that already going down there made it feel like family,” Reed said of picking Southeastern. Reed also has family that lives in Florida. “Everything seems to be in place. Florida is where I want to be, I don’t want to be in the cold anymore.

“The coaching staff there and the players couldn’t have been more inviting,” Reed said. “I’m a leader on the court no matter where I am at. That’s changed so much in my four years. I came in here with a bad attitude as a freshman and knew if I wanted to meet some of my goals, I had to change. When (Goldsberry) watched my film, she told me she liked how well I got along with other players.”

Southeastern is coached by Audrey Goldsberry, who is a graduate and former player of the Southeastern program. The Fire were 14-12 last fall, including winners of four of its final five matches. The Fire compete in the Sun Conference, comprised of schools from Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

Reed, a top 20 academic student at Whitko who will graduate with honors, is planning to study marketing.