Kara Jane Bajema (born March 24, 1998) is an American professional volleyball player who plays as an outside hitter for the United States women's national volleyball team and Turkish professional club VakıfBank S.K.
| Kara Bajema | |||||||||||||||||
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 Bajema in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Kara Jane Bajema | ||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  United States | ||||||||||||||||
| Born | March 24, 1998 Bellingham, Washington, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Hometown | Lynden, Washington | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| College / University | Washington | ||||||||||||||||
| Volleyball information | |||||||||||||||||
| Position | Outside Hitter | ||||||||||||||||
| Current club |  Savino del Bene Scandicci | ||||||||||||||||
| Career | |||||||||||||||||
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| National team | |||||||||||||||||
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Personal life
editBajema was born in Bellingham, Washington to parents Beth and Shane. She spent a few of her early years in Michigan before her family relocated back to Washington. She played soccer until seventh grade before moving on to basketball and volleyball. She has two siblings who are also athletes: an older sister who played soccer at the University of South Carolina, and a brother who plays basketball.[1]
She attended Lynden Christian high school. She was a top 100 national volleyball recruit in her high school class and was a MaxPreps First Team All-American in 2015. She played both volleyball and basketball and led her high school to multiple state titles, earning MVP honors in both sports.[2]
Career
editCollege
editBajema, a standout multi-sport athlete in basketball and volleyball, chose to focus on volleyball for the remainder of her career. She was recruited as a middle blocker when she chose to play for the University of Washington, but transitioned to outside hitter before the start of her sophomore season.[3] She played both indoor and beach volleyball for Washington.[2][4] As a junior in 2018 during her indoor career, her first season as a six-rotation outside hitter, she led the team with 475 kills and 533.5 points, which was the ninth-most in a single season and also the most since 2014. She was named a Third-Team All-American.[5] As a senior in 2019, she broke a 17-year-old school record for most kills in a season with 597, averaging 4.63 per set, and earned First Team All-American honors. She finished her collegiate career ranked sixth in school history with 1,482 kills.[6]
Bajema graduated from Washington in 2020 with a degree in education, Communities, and Organization.[7]
Professional clubs
edit- Casalmaggiore (2020–2021)
- KS DevelopRes Bella Dolina Rzeszów (2021–2022)
- VakıfBank S.K. (2022–2023)
- Vero Volley Milano (2023–2024)
- Jakarta BIN (2024–2023)
- Savino del Bene Scandicci (2024–)
USA National Team
editIn May 2022, Bajema made her national team debut when she was named to the 25-player roster for the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Nations League tournament.[8]
Awards and honors
editIndividual
edit- 2021–2022 Polish Cup – Most Valuable Player, with KS DevelopRes Bella Dolina Rzeszów
- 2024 Indonesian Women's Proliga – Best Blocker, with Jakarta BIN
Clubs
edit- 2021–2022 TAURON Liga – Silver medal, with KS DevelopRes Bella Dolina Rzeszów.
- 2021–2022 Polish Cup Champion, with KS DevelopRes Bella Dolina Rzeszów.
- 2024 Indonesian Women's Proliga Champion, with Jakarta BIN.
College
editExternal links
editReferences
edit- ^ "Net Posts With Kara Bajema". uwhuskies.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ a b "University of Washington Bio". uwhuskies.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ "Kara Bajema picked volleyball over basketball, and her choice has paid off for the UW Huskies". seattletimes.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ "University of Washington Beach Bio". uwhuskies.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ "Bajema Named AVCA All-American". uwhuskies.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ "Bajema, Powell Named All-American". uwhuskies.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ "University of Washington 2020 Commencement Program" (PDF). commencement.uw.edu. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ "Twenty-five Named to U.S. Women's Roster for VNL". usavolleyball.org. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ "PAC-12 NAMES 2019-20 TOM HANSEN CONFERENCE MEDAL WINNERS" (PDF). pac12.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.