“Volleyball has been my life.”

These are the words of Kathy Litzau—formerly Kathy Cunningham—at Central’s Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Q&A on Jan. 23.

During the Q&A, Litzau reminisced over her years being a high-jumper and relay runner on varsity track during her freshman and sophomore years, just missing a buzzer beater on varsity basketball junior year and ultimately relying on her friends for support when she chose to exclusively play volleyball.

Litzau started playing volleyball in seventh grade, and completely fell in love with the sport. As a freshman at Central, Litzau played on JV and for the following three years, she played for the varsity team.

Litzau also started playing volleyball for a club team when the hype began (she played for Sports Performance), but still remembers school volleyball fondly.

“Every time I stepped on the court [at Central,] I felt like I learned something new,” Litzau said.

After graduating in 1986, Litzau, a three-sport varsity athlete, went on to be the captain of the volleyball team at University of Notre Dame. She was successful, earning MVP honors her senior year. But her career did not stop at college.

“I coached collegiately, so I was a coach at the University of Illinois, the University of Wisconsin [and] Michigan State,” Litzau said. “For those, I was an assistant [coach], and then at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee I was a head coach for 14 years. Now, I’m actually Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.”

With this impressive resume, it is quite evident that volleyball literally is Litzau’s life. She can not imagine her life without it, and it really is not that surprising that she has earned a spot in Central’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

For many athletes at Central, Litzau is an inspiration. Sam Herron is a junior, and much like Litzau, she made varsity volleyball sophomore year.

“[The inductees] have a lot of really good stories,” Herron said. “I listened a lot to when they were saying you have to think in the moment, not five years from now.”

Throughout her career, Litzau has made a habit of being successful at what she does. Most of that comes from the fact that she has a passion for the sport she chose.

“[I love volleyball because of] the fact that it is completely team oriented,” Litzau said. “It’s pretty much the only sport where one person can’t take over [the whole game].”