Kara Bajema

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
Bajema in 2023
Personal information
Full nameKara Jane Bajema
Nationality United States
Born (1998-03-24) March 24, 1998
Bellingham, Washington, U.S.
HometownLynden, Washington
Height188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
College / UniversityWashington
Volleyball information
PositionOutside Hitter
Current clubTurkey VakıfBank S.K.[1]
Career
YearsTeams
2016–2019United States Washington
2020–2021Italy Casalmaggiore
2021–2022Poland KS DevelopRes Bella Dolina Rzeszów
2022–Turkey VakıfBank S.K.
National team
2022–United States United States

Personal life

Bajema 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.[2]

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.[3]

Career

College

Bajema, 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.[4] She played both indoor and beach volleyball for Washington.[3][5] 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.[6] 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.[7]

Bajema graduated from Washington in 2020 with a degree in education, Communities, and Organization.[8]

Professional clubs

USA National Team

In 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.[9]

Awards and honors

Clubs
  • 2021–2022 TAURON Liga – Silver medal, with KS DevelopRes Bella Dolina Rzeszów.
  • 2021–2022 Polish Cup Champion, with KS DevelopRes Bella Dolina Rzeszów.
  • 2021–2022 Polish Cup – Most Valuable Player, with KS DevelopRes Bella Dolina Rzeszów
  • 2021–2022 Polish Super Cup Champion, with KS DevelopRes Bella Dolina Rzeszów.

College
  • AVCA First Team All-American (2019)
  • 2019-20 Tom Hansen Medal Winner[10]
  • AVCA Pacific North Region Player of the Year (2019)
  • AVCA Third Team All-American (2018)
  • Pac-12 All-Freshman Team (2016)

References
  1. "TUR W: VakıfBank make it official – Bajema joins world and European club champions". World of Volley. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  2. "Net Posts With Kara Bajema". uwhuskies.com. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  3. "University of Washington Bio". uwhuskies.com. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  4. "Kara Bajema picked volleyball over basketball, and her choice has paid off for the UW Huskies". seattletimes.com. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  5. "University of Washington Beach Bio". uwhuskies.com. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  6. "Bajema Named AVCA All-American". uwhuskies.com. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  7. "Bajema, Powell Named All-American". uwhuskies.com. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  8. "University of Washington 2020 Commencement Program" (PDF). commencement.uw.edu. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  9. "Twenty-five Named to U.S. Women's Roster for VNL". usavolleyball.org. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  10. "PAC-12 NAMES 2019-20 TOM HANSEN CONFERENCE MEDAL WINNERS" (PDF). pac12.com. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
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