Ally Karle’s path to the Mount Olive varsity volleyball team started before she was even in high school.

Marauders head coach Lee Clowers was at a tournament, and saw several tall girls playing on Ridge’s junior varsity. At that moment, he declared, “The next time we get a six-foot girl, she’s going on varsity.”

That girl was Karle.

She had no club experience, just a couple of years playing on a spring recreational team while in middle school. She couldn’t even get a serve over the net, and occasionally had to ask where to go on certain rotations. But Clowers still put her out there to block.

It didn’t take Karle very long to start soaking up information, and she is now the 2011 All Daily Record Volleyball Player of the Year.

“As a freshman, I wasn’t as competitive,” said Karle, now a 6-foot-2 junior. “I didn’t really know what I was doing. Now it's a whole new game. I see it through different eyes.”

The focus of Mount Olive’s offense, Karle led the team with 427 kills, and a 0.347 hitting percentage. She had 19 kills against Vernon, and 18 apiece in back to back matches versus Randolph and Montville. Karle also contributed 83 blocks, and was rarely blocked herself. However, Clowers still hopes that will happen occasionally, because “it awakens her, and she plays even better.”

Karle played all six positions this year, adding 177 digs, second on the team. She also served 52 aces, as Mount Olive (22-4) went undefeated at home and earned just the third NJSIAA Tournament win in the program’s history. Karle had 18 kills, five blocks and seven digs in the Marauders’ season finale against Old Tappan.

“She’s an ultimate competitor,” Clowers said. “She really wants to win more than anybody I’ve ever had. … She’s improved 100 percent every year. If she can improve 100 percent this year, I don’t know what she’ll be doing next year. It’s always been in her. She just realized it was there.”

Though most people who notice her height ask if she also plays basketball, Karle is devoted to volleyball full-time. She started playing for Allegro after her first high school season, and improved exponentially. She was on Atlantic Valley’s 16-national team last year, and is back with the club again this winter.

Karle, who has a 4.0 GPA, hopes to play volleyball at a Division I university. More immediately, she's hoping to speed up her footwork, and learn to rotate her shoulders so she can hit even more spots on the court.

“She’s got a lot of really good competitiveness and drive,” said Madison setter Jen Vorel, who plays with Karle at Atlantic Valley. “She doesn’t have a limit. She’ll challenge herself and really step up when she needs to. She’s only improved.”