UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In the midst of discussing her current music tastes, Kaitlyn Hord mentioned that her favorite Big Time Rush song is, "Halfway There."
As a junior middle blocker for the Nittany Lions, Hord is getting closer to the lifelong dream she has had since she began playing volleyball in high school in Lexington, Kentucky. Although her involvement with volleyball came later than most, it did not stop her from wanting to achieve her dreams.
"It was a funny story," Hord said. "I was visiting my potential high school that I was going to attend. We saw the volleyball coach in the hallway, and the principal introduced us to each other. I was like, 'Well, I might as well try this. I've seen the sport and I think it's pretty cool. I might as well give it a go.' He gave us like a little, 'come and try out and see what it was about,' and the rest is history."
Originally, basketball was the childhood sport Hord played growing up. However, the constant frustration of the physicality the sport brought with often getting hurt was the downside. Eventually, Hord called it quits on basketball. As they say, when one door closes, another one opens.
"I was playing basketball up until eighth grade, and then I just kind of got frustrated with basketball because it's so physical," Hord said. "Being taller than everyone else in my grade at the time, I would always get poked in the eyes because I guess, just the way I would hold the ball near my face people would try and knock it out of my hands. I just got frustrated, basically getting beat up in basketball."
Once Hord found volleyball, it was everything she loved. She started pursuing a dream that only a small percentage of athletes get to experience — playing professionally and for Team USA. Walking into the gym in the early days of a volleyball camp at her high school, coach Amy Barmore — Hord's first volleyball coach — said Hord already had her dream established and was ready to work for it.
"At age 15, this has been a dream and a goal for her for years now," Barmore said. "You just have the conversation, 'Okay, if this is what you want to do you have the ability to do it. Now let's go do it.' The Olympic team was always her goal and we had always talked about it. She is definitely doing an amazing job, but we all knew she would."
When trying to find her second home, Hord knew Penn State would be an amazing place to grow towards her dreams. A coach had advised her that if she kept all her options open in choosing a new home, she would know where she was meant to be. Sure enough, she felt she was at home when she arrived on campus to visit.
"I remember talking to my second club coach at that time, and he told me, 'When you go to these different places people always say when you get to the right place, you kind of just know,'" Hord said. "You'll have that feeling where it just feels like home. I remember when I visited certain places, I was like, 'Oh, yeah, this place is really nice and they have a great program. The girls are really nice.' Or sometimes they weren't that nice or they have really great food here. Then when I got to (Penn) State, I kind of just knew in the back of my head that this is where I was supposed to be."
Since arriving here two years ago, Hord has said a highlight to the experience is spending time with the girls on the team. Everything from sharing TikToks in the locker room to late night games of Among Us — even a little scare on the road — have been some of her favorite times she has had thus far.
"There's this one time (Kristin) Krause came into my hotel room and Sophie Walls was my roommate," Hord said. "She was in the bathroom and Kels was hiding behind the bed. I have a video and Krause just popped out of nowhere when Soph just walked in the room, she just fell flat on the bed."
As the season is on hold until the spring semester, Hord has a high level of excitement for the return of the season. To be back playing in Rec Hall will be exciting, but not the same as before. The fans make up a large part of the experience of playing in Rec Hall, and not hearing their cheers or waving to her biggest fans and inspirations will be a different experience to go through for the upcoming season.
"We won't have our fans which will be very disappointing because we love our fans here. They really put the final touch on playing in Rec Hall," Hord said. "I'm here, trying to do my thing to show (my parents) that all those hours of traveling to who knows where on a Saturday and Sunday was worth it, and show them that I really do appreciate everything that they've done for me over the years. When they come to games, just seeing their faces in the crowd when I can find them, it's the best feeling."
In the summer of 2019, Hord's dreams were getting even closer when she received an invitation to train with the Olympic team. It was all very exciting until COVID-19 hit the United States and those plans have been put on hold.
"I was scheduled to fly to California and train for two weeks and basically, like, prep the Olympic team for their upcoming competitions and stuff," Hord said. "Then all this stuff happened and I didn't get to go, which was disappointing. Hopefully there will be other opportunities."
Even in the midst of all the chaos this year has brought, two quotes have stood out to Hord in her journey thus far. One of them being from a childhood show that has been a favorite since she was little.
"I always remind myself of the two-second rule," Hord said. "Every time you make a mistake, you can be upset about it for two seconds, and then it's time to get over it because if you linger on those feelings, it's not good for the next play. It can ruin your whole day, basically so if you mess up, just forget about it, learn from it and move on.
"The other one is actually from the show 'Avatar, The Last Airbender,'" Hord continued. "I used to watch that show all the time when I was little, but now I can actually understand the hidden meanings behind everything. There's this one quote from Uncle Ira and he says, 'Sometimes life is like a dark tunnel. You can always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you keep moving, you'll come to a better place.' During the first part of when we got back from quarantine, I wasn't feeling very confident in the way I was playing just because we'd been out for like five months. It was a little tough for me to get back to the rhythm, but I just had to ultimately remind myself at the end of the day that it's going to get better. Everything's going to work itself out. I just have to keep a clear mind. Keep working hard and doing what I know I can do and give my best."
With Hord's journey at Penn State being halfway over, she is halfway there to achieving her dreams of playing the game she loves for the past several years. As the future looks bright for Hord in wherever she goes, she remembers where it all began and who helped her from the start.
"Keep working hard," Barmore said when asked if there is any advice she could say to Hord with the rest of her journey. "Keep trusting the process and the people around you. You are a great mentor for the young age group. Everybody looks up to you in Lexington and knows your name here in Lexington. Keep achieving your goals and marking them off one by one.
"You are going to be successful."
