By the time she turned 13, Lakes’ Katie Mercure had sampled just about every position volleyball has to offer.

But she hadn’t tried playing setter — until her youth coaches studied her mentality.

“Everyone says that you have to have the right mindset to be a setter, and my coaches said they saw that in me,” Mercure said. “So they finally switched me over.”

But transitioning to setter can feel like an extra homework assignment, and that taxed the young Mercure.

“At first, it was really frustrating,” she said. “It was a lot of pressure, and I didn’t know how to deal with that because I was only 13 years old.

“Being a setter is like being the quarterback. You have control of what happens. You have to spend extra hours working. You need to be a leader.”

But Mercure, a 5-foot-10 senior, put in those hours and has become an all-conference setter for Lakes (7-4), which won its Northern Lake County Conference opener against Antioch on Thursday. She has 198 assists this season and has committed to play Division III volleyball at Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

“As I’ve gotten older, I now like pressure,” Mercure said. “That’s when I perform better. It gets the adrenaline going. I like knowing that I can determine what happens on our side.”

Mercure first joined Lakes’ varsity team during her sophomore season, running a 6-2 offense with then-senior Maegan Brylski.

“I looked up to her as a big sister figure,” Mercure said. “I felt like a little fish in a big pond. I always had questions for her because she knew that I’d be a leader my junior and senior years.”

Mercure recorded 317 assists that season, impressing Brylski, who plays at William Peace in Raleigh, North Carolina. Mercure had 456 assists as the sole setter last year.

“I knew what Katie was capable of,” Brylski said. “I let her know that I had full trust in her. She was able to develop more and learn how to run the offense.”

But Mercure recalls the challenge she faced during the 2021 Class 3A St. Viator Sectional. Lakes swept Deerfield in the semifinals and lost to St. Viator in three in the final.

“I remember coming off the bench shaking,” Mercure said. “I told myself to breathe through it. Everyone told me, ‘We trust you.’ That was the real moment when I realized pressure was something I had to deal with.”

Mercure’s ability to deal with pressure — and to lead the offense — has twice earned her a role near and dear to her heart.

After the second week of fall practice, Lakes coach Sarah Yeager typically gathers her players in a circle to announce the team’s captains. For two seasons in a row, Mercure has been among the selections.

“I love being the captain,” Mercure said. “I love people coming to me and asking questions. Volleyball is all about connection.”

Yeager has coached Mercure for three years, but the two first met when Mercure was 13.

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“What instantly hit me with Katie is that she’s a competitor,” Yeager said. “I saw that at age 13, and that hasn’t changed at all.

“When I go to slap her hands during pregame introductions, I can tell in her eyes that she’s just fired up. Confidence just exudes from her.”

Mercure’s three older brothers all enrolled at Illinois, but she bucked the trend by committing to Eau Claire.

“I ended up at Eau Claire for the family culture,” she said. “I wanted to go into a competitive conference, and theirs is really competitive.”

Yeager said she believes Mercure will thrive there.

“I don’t think there’s much that will stop her,” Yeager said. “Actually, as far as I’m concerned, there is no stopping her. She’s going to be very successful in whatever she does, whether it’s on or off the volleyball court. She just has that type of personality.”

Sam Brief is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.