Elizabeth Forward volleyball standout Kaitlin Fournier commits to Georgia

By: Greg Macafee
Wednesday, December 18, 2019 | 7:00 AM

Elizabeth Forward’s Kaitlin Fournier is becoming a Bulldog.

Last week, the Elizabeth Forward junior verbally committed to play Division I volleyball at Georgia.

I am so incredibly excited to announce my verbal commitment to further my academic and volleyball career at the University of Georgia. I would like to thank all of my family, friends, coaches, and teammates for getting me to this point. Go Dawgs!! ????❤️ pic.twitter.com/pjHelMK70v

— Kaitlin Fournier (@kaitlin4nier) December 12, 2019

After visiting a few other schools, Fournier thought Georgia was the perfect fit for her, not only athletically, but academically as well, which helped her make her decision.

“One of the big things that I looked for when I looked at schools and went on visits was I wanted to be at a school that fit me both academic-wise and athletic-wise,” Fournier said. “I think Georgia, from just going there, has great academic support and that’s something that I was very interested in. Then the volleyball team, the coaching staff was amazing. All the girls were super nice and I really like the competitive nature of their team.”

This past volleyball season, Georgia produced an overall record of 20-10 and went 12-6 in SEC play. Fournier said she was told that she would slot into the lineup as a middle hitter and could start to see time as a sophomore. But in order to get the opportunity to play at the Division I level, Fournier made a sport change.

Until about a year and a half ago, playing volleyball at the Division I level wasn’t something that Fournier had her sights set on. She has played since she was in seventh grade, but she spent most of her time on the softball field. She played for her high school team and played for a travel team as well. Then, Fournier decided to make the switch to volleyball full time.

“Last year was the first time that I just quit softball all together and focused solely on volleyball, and ever since then, I just fell in love with it,” Fournier said. “I’m definitely very excited for the future now.”

This past high school season, Fournier helped Elizabeth Forward reach the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs. Over the course of the season, Fournier racked up 232 kills, 38 aces, 62 blocks and had a hitting percentage of .425.

With one season of high school volleyball left, Fournier said she wants to become the best player she can be. She’s excelled in the hitting and blocking, but she wants to round everything else out as well.

“I just want to get better at all the little things,” Fournier said. “For my position, I mainly just hit and block, but I want to get better at everything, like passing and everything else so I am not just a one-position player.”

Greg Macafee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Greg by email at gmacafee@triblive.com or via Twitter .

Tags: Elizabeth Forward