For most people, Friday the 13th is a bad omen.

Then, there’s Kaylee Fifer.

The Guyer senior volleyball player signed her national letter of intent on Friday to play college volleyball at Colgate University, a Division I program in the Patriot League, located in Hamilton, N.Y.

“Thirteen is Colgate’s special number,” Fifer said. “They stop classes on Friday the 13th and everyone has fun. So we decided to pick [Friday] instead of [Wednesday, which was national signing day.]”

Fifer leaves Guyer as possibly its most decorated volleyball player. The setter-turned-utility player did a little bit of everything for the Lady Wildcats in four-year career as a starter.

She made the Texas Girls Coaches Association all-state team following her sophomore and junior years with another possible selection to the team coming next week.

“She definitely has the best all-around skill of anyone I’ve coached to this point,” Guyer head coach Jennifer Bramlett said. “She can set. I’ve had her play middle [blocker]. She’s played defense. She could play libero. She’s played outside for us. She just has so many abilities and skills that really make her special. She really could play anywhere and excel.”

And in her career at Guyer, she did just that.

This past season while leading her team to the area round of the playoffs, Fifer was second on the team in kills with 312 and led the team with a .258 hitting percentage while playing primarily as a setter. In that role, Fifer racked up 813 assists and she also was second on the team with 209 digs and was in on 60 blocks.

But perhaps the most impressive thing about Fifer was her durability, as she missed just one match in her four-year career, and at the time, it was feared it would be more.

She suffered a thumb injury in a district match last year, missed a match against Lake Dallas and was back the following match with her hand wrapped.

“I was really mad I missed that match too,” Fifer said. “It’s been so much fun though. I got the opportunity to start my freshman year and they [coaches] said, ‘Take it away’, and I took it and they supported me every step of the way.”

It was also last season when Fifer started to show just how valuable she was to Guyer’s program as she moved from her primary role as a setter to an outside hitter to bolster a struggling Guyer offensive attack.

And Fifer said that move has helped her to become a stronger setter, which is the position she’ll be playing at the next level.

“It helped me with my ball control, and I really experienced the other side with what the hitters’ mentality was,” Fifer said. “It helped me become a better setter because I knew what they wanted more and where their placement was and stuff.”

The Raiders are currently 15-12 on the season and finished the Patriot League play with an 11-3 record as they enter the conference tournament next weekend.

Fifer said Colgate head coach Ryan Baker played a big part of why she chose to go with the Raiders.

“I loved the atmosphere of the whole campus and all the people there,” she said. “The coach really helped me and right when I got there he was so welcoming. I really liked his personality.”

She seems to have that effect on her coaches, as well.

“Some of the qualities she has – she’s a great player for sure, but it’s her other qualities that our program is going to miss the most because she’s so good at teaching younger kids and her leadership was positive,” Bramlett said. “Off the court, she was a joy to be around and she’s extremely coachable. She’s athletic enough, too, where you can ask her to do something and she can go out and do it.”

ADAM BOEDEKER can be reached at 940-566-6872. His e-mail address is aboedeker@dentonrc.com.