Fulton’s Reese Germann honored as career digs leader

FULTON – Fulton senior volleyball player Reese Germann grew up admiring Averi Leitzen, who once held the Steamers’ match, season and career digs records.

“Watching her as a kid, she got everything up. It was so impressive,” Germann said. “I thought she was literally amazing.”

With Reese’s mom, Stacy, being Fulton’s volleyball coach and her older sister, Teegan, also a standout volleyball player, she was surrounded by volleyball ever since she can remember.

Now a senior, Reese’s name is next to all of Fulton’s major digs records.

Having already set Fulton’s match digs record (33) and season digs record (461) last season, she had only one more to go.

Germann made it happen last week and was recognized before Fulton’s home win over Ashton-Franklin Center on Thursday. Germann has eclipsed Leitzen’s 1,099 career digs she accumulated from 2013-15. Germann added another nine after a 25-11, 25-12 win over AFC as the team improved to 17-8-1 and 8-3 in the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference.

She now has 1,128 career digs. A video played of Leitzen congratulating Germann before the match.

“I could not be more proud of you,” Leitzen said in the video. “You are very deserving.”

“She was my biggest aspiration,” Germann said of Leitzen, “ever since I came into high school.”

Germann said it’s always been a goal to have a record since she joined the team. Now she has three by working her way to varsity her sophomore year after watching her sister as a freshman. She beat her sister Teegan’s match digs record of 26 set in 2021. Leitzen’s season digs record of 397 had stood since 2015.

Teegan played volleyball at Grand View University for two years and now is an assistant coach for the Steamers. She is continuing to get the rest of her degree online.

“She was really happy for me when I broke her record,” Reese said of Teegan. “She’s always been there for me, and she’s always been pushing me.”

Reese struggled with trying to be a perfectionist as a libero, but she learned to just go with the flow of the game. It’s paid off.

Also a standout softball player in the outfield, she said there is overlap between the two sports.

“You just always have to go for the ball, and dive, and just be ready,” she said, “always running, always moving your feet. And that applies to volleyball.”

Coach Germann said Reese works hard and is a student of the game. She played club volleyball with Iowa Select over the winter.

“She listens, and she learns, and she reads the block well,” coach Germann said. “She’s a smart kid, and she utilizes that out on the floor. And she works. If there’s an extra practice, she’ll go to that. It’s just effortless for her. She’s just smooth on the court and makes it look easy.

“On defense, so much of it is reading the hitters and reading the blockers, and she does that.”

Reese is committed to play volleyball in La Crosse, Wisconsin, at Viterbo University, a top-notch NAIA volleyball team in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Stacy Germann, now in her 30th year coaching the Steamers, said it was a big accomplishment for Reese to break those three records, all previously held by Leitzen.

“Avery was our first libero that was just a true, natural passer,” she said. “And that’s what Reese does.”

Fulton still has aspirations in conference play and will be a No. 2 seed when the postseason begins Oct. 28 in Class 1A.

Reese feels really good where the team is at right now.

“We’re like a tight-knit family,” she said. “We all know each other, we all love each other.”