Sammi Lockwood had just started to play with her Club Fusion volleyball team when Notre Dame assistant coach Katie Wilson first noticed the 14-year-old in a National Jr. Classic Tournament at the Rosemont Sports Dome in May 2015.

Lockwood, a soon-to-be sophomore at Prairie Ridge, stayed in touch with Notre Dame and went on an unofficial visit in November – watching a match at Purcell Pavilion and going on a campus tour.

She “fell in love with Notre Dame that day,” but the idea of eventually playing at a Division I school so early into her volleyball career felt like a long shot.

When Wilson, assistant coach Mike Johnson and head coach Jim McLaughlin met with the 6-foot-3 middle blocker at the AAU National Tournament in Orlando, Florida this past week, they were ready to take the next step.

Lockwood, who said she also received strong interest from Arizona, Ohio State and North Carolina, felt the most comfortable with the coaching staff at Notre Dame. On Wednesday, she gave her verbal commitment to the Fighting Irish despite playing club for only two years.

“It was a pretty short conversation. (Wilson) asked me what I thought about the school, and if I’d like to be a part of it,” Lockwood, now 15, said. “They said they didn’t want me to sign anywhere else.”

Notre Dame finished 7-25 and 2-18 in the Atlantic Coast Conference under McLaughlin, who took over the program last year after leading Washington to a 355-90 record in 14 seasons.

McLaughlin, who won National Coach of the Year in 2004, is the only coach in NCAA history to win a men’s and a women’s national championship. His success at turning around the women’s program at Washington was a big selling point, Lockwood said.

Washington was last in the Pac-10 Conference when McLaughlin took over in 2001, and the Huskies went on to win a national title in 2005 with a 32-1 record.

“I’m most looking forward to improving my overall game, and showing them that they made the right choice,” said Lockwood, who started on Prairie Ridge’s varsity basketball team as a freshman and averaged 8.4 points a game.

In the summer leading up to her freshman year, Lockwood fractured her growth plate in her right knee. The injury kept her out until October, and she played most of her freshman year on the JV team behind varsity starters Allison Cole, Genesis Sheridan and Kirsten Voel-Pel.

“When she came back, she was starting to give everybody a run for their money,” Prairie Ridge coach Stefanie Otto said. “She’s just a very dynamic player. She reads the court well. She has such a high reach and touch – it’s just so hard to block her.”

Lockwood plays on the same club team with Prairie Ridge’s Jayden Otto, Olivia Annen and Isabella McGowan, and Huntley’s Riley Seibert. Stefanie Otto has seen Lockwood’s game improve first-hand while watching her daughter, Jayden, play.

“Watching her in club, her court sense and just her tempo of the game keeps getting better at all times,” Otto said. “This fall, we’ll work on her ability to read the court even more – trying to read what the hitters are doing and trying to anticipate what’s going to happen next.”

Lockwood said she is looking forward to playing a full year without any setbacks, while Otto expects her to be a regular contributor and a difference-maker.

"She’s going to be somebody that other teams are going to have to worry about," Otto said. "That’s for sure."