ROCHESTER — Charlotte Beatty harbored at least a little uncertainty coming into the season.
The Rochester volleyball player had good reason. The Rockets graduated six seniors after their record-setting 33-5 season and Class 3A sectional finals run.
Zoe Cormier, fortunately, returns to the fold. This senior girls soccer standout and football kicker joined the volleyball team over the summer after playing competitively freshman year — making her a versatile three-sport athlete at the Central State 8 Conference school.
“I was relieved that she was going to be on the team,” Beatty said. “It’s just nice to have another really good hitter on the team because it’s just reassuring.”
Zoe Cormier filled with athleticism, drive for Rochester
Cormier resurfaced in June and immediately picked up where she left off despite the hiatus, according to sixth-year coach Kallie (Sinkus) Green.
“She’s just one of those players that gets along with everyone,” Green said. “She’s super coachable, she’s super positive, and the fact that it doesn’t show that she took two years off is a huge bonus.”
So much so that Green can put the long 5-foot-10 hitter anywhere on the front row.
“She has a great vertical,” Green added. “She just moves incredibly well and it’s funny because obviously soccer and football involve your feet. In here, it’s more your hand-eye coordination as far as hitting the ball, which is her go-to on the volleyball court and she just does it with ease. She’s just so athletic.”
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Beatty, a fellow midfielder in soccer, can attest to Cormier’s athleticism.
“It’s really good to have her on the volleyball court, because she’s just a really consistent player all the way around, just like in every sport she does,” Beatty said. “I’m glad that she’s making the time to play volleyball this season because she’s a really good hitter.”
‘So I just decided at the last second’
Cormier opted to come back for the first day of volleyball open gym after reaching out to senior libero Kaylen Reed via text.
“I was like, ‘Hey, should I come?’ because I was thinking about it,” said Cormier. “She was like, ‘Yeah, sure, why not?’ and so I just decided at the last second to come.”
She wanted to reconnect with everyone again more than anything else. “I’m just here to have fun,” Cormier said. “That’s pretty much it. I’m excited to be back.”
Green could only try to temper her enthusiasm after first hearing about Cormier’s possible return.
“It’s been great timing,” Green said. “It’s been overall great for the program and it’s like she never left, which makes it super easy and overall a huge positive.”
Entering the Rochester soccer environment with ease
Cormier shifted her attention to soccer after her first year in high school but still played volleyball for fun.
“It was hard,” Cormier said. “I’ve been playing volleyball since I was in second grade. It was hard to leave.”
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She remained buoyed by her teammates, even through the hiccups.
“I haven’t really played a varsity match and we have a lot of new girls,” Cormier said of the team’s chemistry. “Everybody gets along, so it makes it easier to move that from outside-the-court to on-the-court.”
McKendree commit carries a big leg
Cormier, who recently committed to the NCAA Division II McKendree University women’s soccer team at center back, can now fully enjoy the volleyball season.
Not to mention football.
Cormier converted 55 of 62 point-after attempts and two field goals last fall. She nailed her longest attempt, 30 yards, in her debut season as a sophomore.
Senior classmate Zoey Tackett’s father, Brett, assists as the kicking coach. That led to a tryout in front of head football coach Derek Leonard.
“I got a text from her,” Cormier said of Zoey, “and she was like, ‘Hey, would you want to kick for the football team?’ I was like, ‘Really? Actually?’ and she was like, ‘Yeah, why not?’ Then I kicked in front of coach Leonard and he liked it.”
Cormier described Green and Leonard as flexible coaches. Both teams start out against Sacred Heart-Griffin. Volleyball welcomed the Cyclones on Tuesday, while football visited Ken Leonard Field for the last regular-season edition of the Leonard Bowl at 7 pm Friday.
“Obviously the ball’s shaped differently,” Cormier said of football and soccer, “but it’s the same concept kicking through the middle of the ball.
“For soccer, I have like a big leg or whatever so if anybody was going to do it, I guess it would be me.”
Contact Bill Welt: (217) 788-1545,[email protected]Twitter.com/BillWelt