The good times never seemed so good for Caroline Keutzer.

The senior outside hitter led Princeton to the Three Rivers East championship and their first regional championship in four years.

The six-rotation standout, excelling all around with an area-best 250 kills, adding 150 digs, 196 points and 30 aces.

She was unanimously named first-team all-conference in the Three Rivers and to the Illinois Volleyball Coaches Association All-State Team honorable mention.

For all of her accomplishments, Keutzer is the 2025 BCR Volleyball Player of the Year.

For Caroline, it was all sweet.

“It’s huge to me. Volleyball is a team sport and we’ve been playing together forever,” she said. “And it’s kind of bittersweet being our last season. Doesn’t feel like it’s over. I’ve been playing volleyball since I was a little kid, and it’s over.”

Coach Andy Puck, who is also hanging up his volleyball career at Princeton after 24 seasons, said he couldn’t have asked for any more from Keutzer.

“Just a wonderful six-rotation player. A consummate pro on and off the court. Super smart. Thirsty for knowledge,” he said. “We could change blocking and hitting assignments throughout the match and she was able to pick up on things right away.

“Very coachable young lady which makes my job easier and she also leads by example. If she was diving for balls in practice, she set that example for other players. You can’t ask for anything better than that for somebody that leads by example and a captain on the floor.”

Puck said Keutzer excelled in all areas.

“She was one of our better passers, one of our better servers, one of our better terminators as an outside hitter and one of our better blockers,” he said. “You put those four things together, she’s a complete player. She really was. A lot of coaches would really admire how high she was able to jump and was able to get to balls and how to terminate balls.”

Keutzer loved playing full rotation and thrived in it.

“I love it. I love defense. I love going for balls and I love the people on either side of me throughout all my rotations,” she said. “I mix with everyone on the court and I think knowing everybody on the court definitely benefits our team. And having three players that go around the court definitely benefits our team.”

As one might think, it’s not the big kill that excites Keutzer the most.

“I think a big dig or a pancake (block) is more exciting than a big kill,” she said. “But nobody really pays attention to the big digs. It’s always the big kill. But having a nice solid hit and a no-touch kill is always very nice.”

Keutzer was inspired by her sister, Lily, who stepped into the Tigresses’ lineup her senior season in 2022 after playing a reserve role before and had a big year, receiving first-team All-BCR honors.

“I loved watching her. I loved watching her serve receive. I loved watching her hit. You could never tell where she was going to hit the ball,” Keutzer said. “And only having her senior year to play, I felt she made a huge impact when she played.”

Keutzer will always fondly remember her senior season.

“As a senior, I couldn’t ask for me,” Keutzer said. “This is my third year on the varsity. Last year, we were right there, almost beating a team (El Paso-Gridley) that went to state. It’s just huge we won regionals.”

The Tigresses bowed out in the sectional semifinals to Peoria Notre Dame after winning the first set and leading 18-14 in the third. Notre Dame lost in the finals to Riverdale, which went on to place third at state.

Princeton beat Riverdale 2-1 at the Rock Falls Invite and Keutzer can only think what could have happened had the Tigresses met up with the Rams for the sectional championship.

“If we would have beat Peoria Notre Dame, I think we could have beat Riverdale and went far,” she said.

Keutzer will take her last swings of any sport in the softball this spring. She plans to major in biology in college and go into premed to become an anesthesiologist.