Katie Hurta To Participate In USA Volleyball’s Spring Training Series

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

Penn State women’s volleyball incoming freshman Katie Hurta will participate in this weekend’s U.S. national team development program spring training series May 6-8 at the Athletico Center in Northbrook, Illinois.

Hurta, a 6-foot-1 setter/right-side hitter from Palos Hills, Illinois, flipped her verbal commitment to the Nittany Lions on February 26 after previously being committed to Indiana.

Hurta is one of the Chicago area’s top prospects from the 2022 recruiting class and is no stranger to the USA volleyball program, having participated in events in the past. Nearly 100 of the nation’s best girls’ volleyball players will be in attendance this weekend.

Hurta and fellow Penn State freshman Gillian Grimes, a 5-foot-6 libero/defensive specialist from Westchester, Illinois, helped Nazareth Academy win the 2021 IHSA 3A state championship as seniors last fall.

“Winning the state championship was definitely the highlight of my high school career,” Hurta told DigNittanyVolleyball in March. “I am very grateful to have experienced such an amazing moment.”

Hurta and Grimes were also club teammates with Adversity VBC and led their team to the 2022 USA Volleyball Girls 18s Junior National Championship April 22-24 in Phoenix, Arizona, where they spent some time with the two other members of Penn State’s 2022 recruiting class, Alexa Markley and Mandi Morioka.

Hurta and fellow setter Seleisa Elisaia, a Cal State Bakersfield grad transfer, will compete for Penn State’s starting setter job this summer following the offseason transfer of All-American and three-time team captain Gabby Blossom to San Diego. Hurta was named the 2021-22 Gatorade Illinois Player of the Year.