That Lemont junior Keira O’Donnell has made a smooth switch from middle hitter to the outside is not that surprising.

That she has come from not playing the back row at all to being one of the team’s top defenders? That surprised even her.

“It did,” O’Donnell said, smiling. “But during club season I was a middle, transitioning to the outside. So I was really focusing on my back row, working hard on it. I’m really happy.”

The Southern Mississippi recruit was an all-around success Thursday night as host Lemont defeated Evergreen Park 25-15, 25-19 in a South Suburban Conference crossover match.

O’Donnell led the way for Lemont (22-6, 11-0) with nine kills. April Rice recorded six kills and seven assists, while Jessica Rimbo contributed seven assists and Adyson DuVall added three blocks.

Neve Hayes had five kills and nine assists for Evergreen Park (11-14, 5-6). Jordan Johnson and Fiona Buchanan each chipped in with four kills.

O’Donnell made the majority of her contributions in the back row on serve receive. But on back-to-back rallies during one sequence in the first game, she delivered spectacular saves on defense that resulted in Lemont points.

Hard work definitely paid off.

“I was always in the gym,” O’Donnell said. “I worked so hard for everything this past club season. I was constantly in the gym from 3 o’clock to 6. Before tournaments, I would go into the gym before we would leave on the plane.

“I always felt like I could do better, so I tried to do everything I could to get my skills up.”

Thursday’s match left her with a team-leading 200 digs this season. Riley Conry is second with 169. Not bad for a kid who before this season didn’t play much defense.

To hear Lemont coach Chris Zogata tell it, O’Donnell has always been a defensive gem in waiting.

“As a freshman and sophomore at practices, she would always want to go in,” Zogata said. “She would say, ‘Coach Zogata, I want to play defense. Can I go in the back row?’

“A lot of times, I would let her do it. And she was actually pretty good at it. It wasn’t that big of a stretch to me that she could play defense for us.”

The reality was the 6-foot O’Donnell also was looking ahead.

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“I knew that I wasn’t going to grow much taller,” O’Donnell said. “I kind of felt that for college, I was going to have to transition to being an outside.

“I wanted to get a head start on it. I always wanted to be able to pass when I was in the back row.”

Her teammates had no idea what would develop.

“Oh yeah, when she was always saying she wanted to be back there, it was funny,” Rimbo said. “But now, she’s awesome. She is really good.”

On the offensive side, O’Donnell is swinging with authority. She’s by far the team’s hitting leader with 280 kills. She has a chance to match her first two seasons of 355 kills combined.

“Keira has always been a very versatile hitter,” Rimbo said. “Even as a middle, she was always there. I feel it’s really weird to have a middle who is always there to hit, but she always was. I was so confident when she went to the outside and I was really excited about it.

“Having that confidence as a hitter has brought so much to our team. Having her on the court all the way around, she is such a great contributor and is really amazing. She is making such a big impact.”