Junior athlete verbally commits to play in college

Lauren Rudsit, Guest Reporter

The varsity volleyball team comes back in the lead, winning in the fourth set against Rouse in a pre-season scrimmage. All the girls excitedly jumped up and down because they were still undefeated. Katelyn Krienke has now been playing for 10 years, and it’s all thanks to her cousin.

“When I was younger my cousin played volleyball and I’m the older sister so I never really had an older sister to look up too. She was kind of my role model you could say,” Krienke said. “She played it so I was like why don’t I try.”

Krienke is a junior and has been on varsity volleyball since freshman year.  She has recently verbally committed to UTSA, a division 1 school to further her academic and volleyball career.

“The environment is super great there. The coaches are amazing, they are super sweet,” Krienke said. “I got to meet with some of the girls that I will be playing with, and I absolutely love them. Their campus is also getting remodeled and things are being built so by the time I go there they will be available which is going to be really awesome.”

This season, her team has lots of strengths that bond these girls together. 

“Some of the strengths of my team I would say is that we are all really close together. We’re not just friends on the volleyball court, we’re also friends outside of the volleyball court which really helps us with the chemistry on the court,” Krienke said.

For school, her and some of her teammates have a tradition to hype them up before a game. Before every pre-game, Krienke and some of the girls always get a white or red Monster and drink them. Then they always go to the locker room afterwards and run to the single, ‘Hotel Room Service’.

“As the game is about to start I do all my handshakes with my teammates and then when I step onto the court I always get a rush of adrenaline and get so pumped,” Krienke said.  

When their volleyball season is finally over, the girls will usually be in the weight room. 

When the volleyball season is over the girls go into off-season which is mainly a weight roombase. It’s normally the freshmen, sophomores and juniors who go to do workouts every day and then have study hall.

“The importance of training year round is to keep up with our skills and taking a month or two off, would not have us get any better,” Krienke said. “Verbally committing has relieved a lot of stress for me because I feel they really need me on the court and that I am there for a reason.”

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