Lady Topper volleyball standout Whitney Nichols signs on with Illinois Central College
 

[January 22, 2015]  MOUNT PULASKI - Whitney Nichols, a senior at Mount Pulaski High School, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball for the Illinois Central College Cougars in East Peoria.

Nichols was a four-year starter on the varsity volleyball team for Coach Donna Dulle. She earned three state medals in her career at Mount Pulaski High School, two as a member of the IHSA Class 1A State Runner-Up girls volleyball teams (2011 and 2012) and one as a member of the IHSA Class 1A State Runner-Up girls basketball team (2013). She finished her career as a Lady Topper with 901 kills, 116 blocks, 121 aces and 917 digs.

This past season Nichols earned many accolades on the court including First Team All-Area and First Team All-Conference. In addition, she earned First Team All-Area State Journal Register, Honorable Mention All-State Champaign News-Gazette and Second Team All-Area for both The Pantagraph and the Decatur Herald & Review.

Nichols was also active in FFA for four years, serving as an officer three of those years. She has also been in the Topper Spirit Squad and she has been on the Honor Roll for the first seven semesters of her high school career at MPHS.

Currently Nichols is playing club volleyball at Top Notch Volleyball Club in Springfield. The club season is six months long and includes tournaments in St. Louis, Indianapolis and Florida among other destinations. Nichols says, "I love playing club ball because not only does it allow me to continue playing volleyball once I'm finished with the high school season, but it allows me to keep my hands on the ball. It gives me more time to get better and improve on my weaknesses and also helps me improve on my strongest skills."

Nichols truly loves being in the gym everyday practicing passing, serving and especially hitting. She also spoke highly of her coach, a former standout at the University of Florida. "I have the greatest club coach, Jennifer Wood-Holliday. She was an All-American right side hitter for the University of Florida. Having a great coach like Jenny...she just pushes you everyday to make you the best that you can be. It's awesome to have a coach like her because that makes me want to come to practice and work hard. You know you have a coach that is there to work with you every step of the way to make you great."

After club ball, Nichols plans to workout at ER Fitness to get in better shape and get stronger for pre-season volleyball.
 

If you've ever seen Nichols play volleyball you know she can certainly pound the ball right now with a great deal of force. Getting stronger will certainly add to that force and is most definitely a plus for the ICC Cougars and Coach Sue Sinclair.

Nichols will be playing some volleyball this summer with the Cougars and she will officially begin her career at ICC the first of August. Nichols plans to major in computer arts and graphic design at ICC.

Nichols records and recognitions show that she has indeed worked very hard to earn this opportunity to play college ball. She has always been an intense competitor on the court and a great team leader.

Congratulations, Whitney!

[Teena Lowery]