Former Notre Dame-Belmont volleyball standout Kendall Peters making waves at Tulane

When the courts opened in the spring of Peters’ senior season, she was already committed to play the sport at Tulane University. Now, she is becoming synonymous with standout beach play in New Orleans circles as well, as Tulane is off to a 7-1 start, with its lone loss coming last Friday at the hands of undefeated Florida State.

“Yeah, we had a pretty good start,” Peters said. “We lost to Florida State, but they were all really close games. So, I was pretty proud of it.”

The Green Waves’ matchup with Florida State at the Bayou Beach Duals saw Peters reunite with the woman who introduced her to the sport of beach volleyball, Florida State beach volleyball head coach Brooke Niles.

The two met when Peters was 12, and on vacation with her family in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Niles was running a volleyball academy at Club Med, where Peters was vacationing with her parents. Peters had been playing indoor volleyball for quite some time. And, since the resort had a policy of allowing guests to attend the volleyball camp for recreation, Peters’ parents encouraged her to attend, despite having a broken right thumb.

“At first she didn’t really want to do anything and she’d just come and watch our practices,” Niles said. “Matt Heath, who was the other coach, was like: ‘Kendall, why don’t you come out and play?’ So, we did some fun stuff with her other hand. But she was really good too.”

Niles coached serious talent at the academy, with full-time players attending as much as six days per week. However, the El Segundo native wasn’t accustomed to finding such a talent among the Club Med guests, let alone potential Division I talent.

“I said: ‘You should really try this. You could be really good,’” Niles said.

It turned out to be one of the most formative experiences of Peters’ young life.

“I honestly like the sport more,” Peters said. “Indoor was kind of too hectic for me. And my dad always said there’s no bench on the beach. And it’s better on the body too … and I just like being outside more.”

Peters currently plays in tandem with Allie Olsonoski, a graduate student who previously played indoor volleyball at Villanova. They are seeded No. 2, with their only loss coming to Florida State duo Keara Rutz and Torrey Van Winden. Through their seven wins, Peters and Olsonoski haven’t dropped a set.

And Peters has evolved her on-court presence in the process, becoming more of a vocal leader that she ever dreamed of during her indoor days at NDB.

“This is kind of a new deal for me,” Peters said. “Usually, on the court, I’m an internal motivator. So, I’ll usually try to lead the team with my play instead of my voice. … So, this year is a lot more different for me.”

Niles took notice of Peters’ new outgoing persona as well, a big difference from the skinny 12-year-old who attended her academy at Club Med.

“She was pretty shy too,” Niles said. “So, it’s kind of cool for me to see her personality on the court now because she’s really a good beach volleyball player. … You can just see how she’s gained confidence with this sport that she loves and has just blossomed as a person.”

Not that the rah-rah spirit comes naturally to Peters.

“It’s definitely not natural to me,” Peters said. “It’s definitely different but it’s what’s best for my team … so, got to do it.”

Now, the sophomore is living the good life on the beach courts of the American Athletic Conference. Tulane’s season runs through April 18, when its regular-season slate concludes with a rematch against Florida State.

Already part of the Green Waves’ No. 2 seeded team, she’s got two more years to climb the last rung on the ladder. Her partner from last season, Tarin Mergener, is already there, playing at Tulane’s No. 1 seed along with Eva Torruella.

But for her to emerge from the ranks of ranks of Club Med hotel guests, Niles said the trajectory of Peters’ volleyball career is nothing short of remarkable.

“Especially, Kendall was just at the resort with her parents, so she wasn’t there to go to the camps or anything, she was just there doing the fun stuff,” Niles said. “So, for her to take that and to be a DI athlete is really remarkable.”