Katherine Briana "Khat" Bell (born May 5, 1993) is an American

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player who currently plays for the

LOVB Austin LOVB Austin is an American professional women's indoor volleyball team based in Austin, Texas. It is a member of LOVB Pro, which began play in January 2025. History In 2021, LOVB announced plans to start a professional women's volleyball league ...

LOVB Pro LOVB Pro (pronounced "love" and commonly referred to as League One Volleyball) is a women's professional indoor volleyball league in the United States. The league is owned by League One Volleyball (LOVB), a volleyball body founded in 2020. Its ...

. Bell played for the

Petron Blaze Spikers The Petron Tri-Activ Spikers (formerly Petron Blaze Spikers) were a professional women's volleyball team that played in the Philippine Super Liga (PSL) from 2013 to 2020. After the cancellation of the 2020 season of the PSL due to the COVID-19 ...

in the

Philippine Super Liga The Philippine Super Liga (PSL; alternatively spelled as Philippine Superliga) was a non-professional corporate club women's volleyball league in the Philippines. It was first organized by SportsCore Event Management and Consultancy, Inc. and ...

from 2018 to 2020. and for Korea Expressway Corporation Hi-Pass in the Korean V-League in 2024.

Early life

Bell was born on March 5, 1993, to Kenneth Bell and Regina Williams. She was born in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, though she considers

Mesquite Mesquite is a common name for some plants in the genera ''Neltuma'' and '' Strombocarpa'', which contain over 50 species of spiny, deep-rooted leguminous shrubs and small trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. Until 2022, these ge ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, as her hometown. She has two sisters and a brother.

Career

College

Bell during her attendance at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

played for the

Texas Longhorns women's volleyball The Texas Longhorns women's volleyball team represents The University of Texas at Austin in NCAA Division I intercollegiate women's volleyball competition. The Longhorns competed in the Big 12 Conference through the 2023 season and moved to the S ...

team in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

. During her stint, she was named to the All-American women's volleyball team thrice. She, along with teammate Haley Eckerman, became the first senior class to win all four Big 12 championships for the Longhorns and advanced to three NCAA semifinals in four years. In 2012, they helped the Longhorns earn their first National Championship since 1988. Also, for the year 2012, she was named Cobra Magazine National Defensive Player of the Year. She finished fourth in the University of Texas' career chart with a record of 1.17 blocks per set. She graduated from the university in 2015.

Club

After graduating from the University of Texas, Bell started her club career in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

with GS Caltex Seoul. She played for the Korean club from 2015 to 2016 before playing for Gigantes de Carolina in Puerto Rico in 2016. Bell later played for Turkish clubs Manisa BB SK (2016–2017) and Balıkesir Büyükşehir Belediyespor (2017–2018). Two weeks before her stint with Balıkesir was set to end, Bell was contacted by the

of the

(PSL) due to its import player Hillary Hurley having recurring injuries. Bell replaced Hurley as Petron entered the semifinals of the

2018 PSL Grand Prix Conference The 2018 Chooks-To-Go PSL Grand Prix Conference was the first conference and first indoor tournament for the Philippine Super Liga's sixth season. The games commenced February 17, 2018 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig and the formal opening c ...

. On May 1, 2018, Bell scored 42 points for Petron which is the PSL's 2nd highest record for points.

Galatasaray

She signed a 1-year contract with

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

on September 22, 2022. On 29 December 2022, she announced on her social media account that she had parted ways with Galatasaray.

Professional

Bell played for Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball during the 2024 Season.

International

Bell was part of the United States U18 girls' youth team that played at the

2009 FIVB Volleyball Girls' U18 World Championship The 2009 FIVB Girls Youth Volleyball World Championship was held in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand from 3 to 12 July 2009. 16 teams participated in the tournament. Qualification process Pools composition First round ''All times are Thai Stan ...

in Thailand. She was also a participant of the

2015 Summer Universiade The 2015 Summer Universiade (), officially known as the XXVIII Summer Universiade () and also known as Gwangju 2015 () was a multi-sport event for student and youth athletes sanctioned by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), hel ...

in South Korea, playing for the Universiade volleyball team of the United States.

Television

Bell was a contestant on the second season of the American TV series ''The Circle''.

Sporting achievements

Individual

Korean V-League: * Best Blocker Philippine Superliga: * Best Outside Spiker ( 2019 PSL Grand Prix Conference)

Team

Philippine Superliga: * Champions -

(

, 2019 PSL Grand Prix Conference)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Katherine 1993 births Living people University of Texas at Austin alumni Volleyball players from San Diego American women's volleyball players American expatriate sportspeople in the Philippines American expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Sportspeople from Texas Expatriate volleyball players in the Philippines Wing spikers American expatriate volleyball players GS Caltex Seoul Kixx players LOVB Austin players Participants in American reality television series Texas Longhorns women's volleyball players Galatasaray S.K. (women's volleyball) players American expatriate volleyball players in Turkey Expatriate volleyball players in South Korea Vegas Thrill players The Circle (American TV series) contestants 21st-century American sportswomen