By FRED KRONER
Caylee Folken heard the words and accepted them at face value.
As the Mahomet-Seymour volleyball athlete started pondering where to play in college, well-meaning folks told her she could go anywhere.
She took that sentiment to heart.
“I personally struggled with the broadness of college recruiting,” Folken said. “I went a little crazy with the idea that I could play anywhere in the U.S., and I was reaching out to schools from California to Boston.”
She wound up with a set of schools on her short list that included Emerson College, in Boston, Mass., Salve Regina, in Newport, Rhode Island, and Dominican University, in San Rafael, California, as well as Champaign’s Parkland College.
“I will say choosing one out of those four schools was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make,” Folken said. “I was so set on moving far, that I finally realized I didn’t want to be in debt from student loans the rest of my life and that I have amazing people in my life that I didn’t want to leave, and what an amazing opportunity to join a team that plays regularly in the national championship, and to play for a Hall of Fame coach.
“That is what led me to commit to Parkland College.”
Folken will have familiar faces close by the time she arrives at Parkland. Mahomet-Seymour teammate Libby Bodine has also committed to the Cobras, who have played for an NJCAA Division II national championship eight times in the past 10 years under coaches Cliff Hastings and Ron Hoppe-Hastings. Parkland has placed no lower than fourth nationally for 11 consecutive years.
Hastings, who was inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame in 2018, is the director of the Champaign-based Prime Time Volleyball Club and has coached both Folken and Bodine in the past.
“In the end, Parkland ended up being the best fit for me financially and personally,” Folken said. “I started my club career with Prime Time, so I have known Cliff personally since I was little.
“He has always been so thoughtful and caring of his players, regardless if they are Parkland athletes or 12-year-old club players. Cliff being the head coach at Parkland made my decision to play there a lot easier at the time when I had to choose.”
It was only since the calendar flipped to 2023 that Folken revised her thinking about college opportunities.
“It was about two or three months ago I had to settle down and make a decision,” she said. “It was important that I stayed realistic and thought about my family and friends and how I could function without them if I moved far away. I really had to think about what was going to be manageable for my family.”
Bodine found the recruiting process exhausting and wasn’t actively pursuing the chance to play collegiately until recently.
“The recruiting process was honestly really tough,” Bodine said. “It was hard to find schools that had any scholarships to give because lots of players were taking their COVID year (the NCAA granted all athletes in school in 2020 an automatic fifth year of eligibility), so there was less opportunity for the Class of ‘23.
“It was a stressful process having to put film together, sending out emails and doing phone calls. I did expect it to be difficult, but it was even more difficult to stay confident when I found out lots of schools didn’t have an opportunity for me.”
Folken said that playing volleyball is much more enjoyable than dealing with recruiting.
“The recruiting process wasn’t at all what I expected,” Folken said. “Every college athlete warned me about the trials ahead, but I didn’t take their warning seriously enough.
“It’s filled with a lot of denial and disappointing responses, but I am so glad that I put the work in. I wouldn’t be where I’m at today as a committed athlete without that process.”
For years, Bodine had a goal to play collegiately.
“When I first started playing volleyball in middle school, it was a dream of mine to play in college,” she said, “but due to COVID and other circumstances, that dream slowly started to fade.
“This past summer, we went to a Purdue team camp, and that was where I found my confidence again. I then started my recruiting process, so I was emailing schools and reaching out to coaches.”
While being pro-active, one of the coaches Bodine contacted was Hastings.
“I decided to be the one who reached out first,” Bodine said. “I decided to text Cliff about possibly playing at Parkland and that was in September (of 2022). From there, we set up a meeting and then about a month later, I decided to commit.”
Before she finalized her decision, Bodine also visited Indiana State University, but “decided that it was not for me,” she said.
“Since I began my recruiting process so late I had very few options,” Bodine said. “I continued talking to Parkland and I loved the coaching staff and the way they ran things, which is how I came to the decision that Parkland was the perfect school for me.”
She then turned her efforts into recruiting. Bodine provided support as well as her opinions as high school teammate Folken sorted out her options.
“She (Bodine) actually played a big factor in pushing me to ultimately decide on Parkland,” Folken said. “She would talk to me every day at lunch or sneak in a little comment during math class, mentioning how I should just commit to Parkland and play volleyball with her.
“Even her parents were encouraging. We played our last club season this year and her parents would find me after a game and mention Parkland and how I should play there with Libby.
“She (Libby Bodine) was so sweet while encouraging me because she knew I was having a hard time making a decision.”
Bodine acknowledged that she wanted to remain teammates with Folken.
“Once she told me that she was thinking about Parkland, I was very excited for her,” Bodine said. “We had conversations about the benefits of Parkland and also how it was just really nice to be able to have a friend to go to college with.”
When the two players arrive on campus, Hastings will be getting a setter (Folken) who was a four-year letter winner at M-S as well as a libero (Bodine), who was a three-year letter winner after transferring from Champaign Central as a sophomore.
Folken amassed the third-highest assist total in M-S history (1,040) and ranks second for career aces (100). She also registered 367 career digs and 153 career kills.
Both Folken and Bodine played key roles on two Stan Bergman-coached Bulldog teams that won Apollo Conference titles.
Bodine recorded 802 career digs, the fourth-best total in the M-S all-time record books. She also contributed 149 assists and 73 service aces.
Bergman believes the future is bright for both athletes.
“Both have a high understanding of the game, play hyper-focused and with positive energy,” Bergman said. “They both have always stayed on the positive earned points, so they are always part of working their team’s score up, not the opponent’s score.
“Libby has the incredible ability to read the offense of another team, so she finds herself in the right place at the right time to play defense. She is extremely fast and has unbelievable ball control.
“Caylee is committed to running an offense so that it runs at a high level, so she is constantly communicating with her offense and defense. From the moment she steps on the court she is talking to her offense and encouraging them.”
Bodine was an Apollo Conference first-team selection as a junior and a second-team all-league choice as a senior. Folken was an Apollo Conference second-team choice as a junior and emerged as a first-team pick as a senior.
“I have coached Libby since sixth grade, minus her freshman year,” Bergman said. “Her improvements have come with her innate ability to get better at reading and understanding defense, pass-control and playing at a higher pace.
“I coached Caylee sophomore to senior years and her improvements have come from her hard work to understand volleyball, time in the gym playing in club, set placement, serving and defense.
“They both will fit in like a glove with Cliff at Parkland. Libby has played at Prime Time and Cliff knows her game incredibly well and how to communicate with her. Caylee is playing for Prime Time this year, so I see her fitting in well because Parkland’s expectations are to compete at a high level and that works into Caylee’s strengths.”
Neither Bodine nor Folken have talked with the Parkland coaches about specific expectations for next season, but they are anxious to start the transition.
“I’m just excited to get into the gym and work hard to improve,” Bodine said. “I would like to get much quicker on defense and just get more controlled as well. I think my main strength is serve-receive and communicating on the court with my teammates.
“There are always ways to improve and one of those ways for me is to get faster on the court. Another way I can improve is with my mindset and the way I carry myself. I would really like to work on my leadership skills and become very strong in that aspect.”
For Folken, she recognizes she is entering a super-competitive environment.
“I am not sure where my place is or what kind of role I will play yet,” she said. “I am excited to see where I am needed and how I can help.
“The team is booked with four setters this year, so I am interested to see how the coaches sort us out. I believe my leadership is one of the things I am known for on the court. I have always been strong-willed, and I was taught from a young age that it is important for the setter to be the leader on the court.”
Folken said she is not the player now that she will be in the future.
“There is absolutely always room for improvement,” she said. “I pick on my skills every time I step foot into practice.
“I am always looking to perfect my skills and aid my team in a better way. I believe the best mindset when going into a game or practice is not how you can help yourself, but how you can help your team.”
Long before Folken started playing volleyball, she was accustomed to long and grueling workouts.
“In the past, my obsession was gymnastics,” she said. “I was doing five-hour practices around four days a week during my summers and four-hour practices every other day during the week.
“I was convinced at the time that I wanted to go straight to the Olympics. I didn’t even think about a college career at the time.
“Once I eventually quit gymnastics (as a fourth-grader) and realized I was never actually going to go to the Olympics, I did competitive cheer for about a year.”
After moving from Streator to Mahomet as a third-grader, Folken was eventually introduced to volleyball through a summer program. Practicing became a part of her routine.
“When I was younger, I would stand in the middle of my living room and just set for hours,” she said.
Bodine has not yet selected a major, but is sure about one thing as she looks to the future.
“I would still like to be around the game of volleyball, which could mean potentially coaching a team or even just going and watching at times,” she said.
Folken has various academic interests, including journalism, sociology and anthropology.
“I am interested in these subjects because they were the first things I felt I was really good at in school,’” she said. “And of course ,I want to pursue something I feel confident in. When asked where I see myself in the future, all I hope for is that I am rich and surrounded by love.”
Staying close to home for their first two years in junior college will be beneficial for both Bodine and Folken.
“I’m very close to my family, so being close to them distance-wise is perfect for me,” Bodine said. “Knowing that they are only a 15-minute drive away is very reassuring and will definitely make the transition easier.”
Though the distance from Mahomet to west Champaign is short, Folken said it still won’t be the same as being around the people she loves every day.
“It will be hard because my twin sister (Alivia) is my best friend and moving away from her now, even 15-to-20 minutes, won’t be an easy transition.”
Bergman said he will miss both Bodine and Folken.
“It has been my pleasure to have been a part of their lives as they both have made me a better person and I hope I have helped them become better people as well as volleyball players,” he said. “I wish all the best for them in college and I hope they both will get the opportunity to play beyond Parkland.”
