« Volleyball 2014

Karsta Lowe

School
UCLA
Position
Opposite Hitter
Major
Geography/Environmental Studies

Classroom

Karsta has earned Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention accolades in each of her first two seasons eligible for the award. She has also been named to the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll every quarter at UCLA. A geography/environmental studies major, Karsta has also picked up an environmental engineering minor.

Character

Karsta was told at a young age that she may not be college volleyball material, but she was able to persevere and walk her way on to the UCLA women’s volleyball team. She was used mostly as a blocking substitution during her freshman season. After her initial campaign, she received a full scholarship to the program for the rest of her career. The Bruins’ third offensive option in her sophomore season, she developed her play even further to become the Bruins’ go-to hitter as a junior and the top offensive returner in 2014.

Community

Karsta has done numerous community service activities in conjunction with her time on the UCLA women’s volleyball team, including working summer camps and frequent visits to the Mattel Children’s Hospital.

Competition

Karsta enters her senior year after earning AVCA Honorable Mention All-America, AVCA All-Pacific South Region and All-Pac-12 First Team honors. Last year as the primary hitter, she led the Bruins with 4.31 kills and 4.68 points per set, ranking second among hitters with a .290 hitting percentage. Karsta had double figures in kills in 29 of 30 matches, including 24 in a row to end the season, surpassing the 20-kill mark eight times. From her sophomore to junior campaigns, she more than doubled her kills per set (2.05 to 4.31 kps) and points per set (2.30 to 4.68 pps) totals, while adding 31 more blocks. Karsta enters her final season 281 kills shy of 1,000 for her career.