Niekamp signs with IU Kokomo

ST. HENRY - St. Henry standout Mia Niekamp is heading to Indiana University Kokomo to continue her volleyball career.

Niekamp, who came back from a knee injury that cost her her junior year to earn a slew of postseason honors, joins a Cougars team that won the River States Conference this fall and earned a berth in the NAIA national tournament.

"Their team culture was amazing, right when I first went in there," Niekamp said. "They make sure everyone acts as a family and were all super close to each other. The coach is like a mom to everyone, and I love that."

Niekamp earned third-team All-Ohio honors as a sophomore before tearing her ACL off the court in the spring, which relegated her to the bench as the Redskins made a run to the Division IV state title game.

Niekamp chipped in as a de facto assistant coach while rehabbing, then made her return to the court in May to captain a team that lost six seniors. Coach Tricia Rosenbeck said leadership was one of the areas she had shown the most growth.

"She's a more quiet individual, and so I know that was something she really had to work on," Rosenbeck said. "She met with the coaches, she read books, and she worked to become the leader that we needed her to be."

Niekamp, who will major in business and play outside hitter, said that IU Kokomo coaches had reached out to her before the injury and kept in touch while she was waiting to return. She ultimately chose IU Kokomo over the University of Northwestern Ohio, Tiffin University and Indiana Tech, where her older sister Olivia played and currently serves as an assistant coach.

Though the Redskins ultimately fell in the Division III district final to eventual state runner-up Coldwater, Niekamp's senior year was a tour de force. She finished with 4.2 kills per set and 35 aces, earning first-team All-Midwest Athletic Conference, District 8 Player of the Year and Division III first-team All-Ohio honors.  

"Her work ethic has really spread to everyone in the program," Rosenbeck said. "Everyone's seen it since her freshman year, and every year she kept getting better. Obviously her junior year she had the knee injury, but that didn't keep her away from the volleyball program. She was still such an important part her junior year, and the work she put in to get back was unbelievable. The success she had her senior year kind of showed the whole program, with that work, what can be done and all the success you can have."

As for her proudest accomplishments at St. Henry, Niekamp said, "Being able to have great grades while being in a lot of extracurriculars, and then coming back from my injury, definitely."

IU Kokomo, in the 10th year under coach Heather Hayes, went 30-7 and 16-2 in the RSC this fall. The Cougars swept IU-Southeast and IU-East in the RSC tournament before pulling out a five-set win over Midway in the conference title game to win the RSC for the fifth straight year, then lost the national tournament opener 3-1 against the College of St. Mary.