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Craig Mattick: Welcome to another edition of In Play. I am Craig Mattick. Today's guest was a multi-sport athlete winning South Dakota State High school basketball and volleyball championships. She was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in volleyball. She graduated as the All-Time Kills leader, went on to play in the Big 10, one of the first from the state to play Big 10 volleyball and still some 20 years later, she's still listed as one of the top all-time attackers for Penn State volleyball. She's also been a college volleyball coach and now she even has her own photography business. The former Roosevelt Rough Rider in Penn State, Nittany Lion, Ashley Peterson Buckley. Ashley, welcome to In Play.
Ashley Pederson: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Craig Mattick: Hey, I can't believe it's been 20 years since you played for Penn State.
Ashley Pederson: It's wild. I don't know where the time goes.
Craig Mattick: Yeah, Nittany Lions just played in Sioux Falls at the Pentagon just about a month ago. They beat 14th ranked Kansas in five sets. What was it like watching your former team play in your own hometown?
Ashley Pederson...: It was so surreal. Honestly, if you would've told me in college that Penn State would be coming to Sioux Falls one day in the future, I would have laughed. I would've never believed it. So, to have them in our hometown and just to have so many people in the community that love volleyball and people that don't know much about volleyball be there was a really exciting thing I think for Sioux Falls and for sure, very special for me and my family as well.
Craig Mattick: Katie Schumacher-Cawley is the head coach. She's in her fourth year at Penn State. She replaced the legendary Russ Rose. He was there what, 42 years he recruited you, but you played with Katie for a couple of years, I think it was your freshman and your sophomore year. What kind of player was Katie Schumacher?
Ashley Pederson...: Well, Katie came off of a national championship when I arrived at Penn State, so she had a lot of experience with obviously an All-American, had won a national championship, a phenomenal player, but she was an even better leader and that's what I loved so much about her. We got to spend a lot of time together because when we traveled on the road, coach would put us with a player in our position. And so, her and I got to spend time together off of the court and that was, for me, it was a really neat experience to be put together with somebody that was older than me and she took me underneath her wing. Playing when you're young, especially in the Big 10 is really challenging.
And so, she was a great role model and mentor. And to see her now at the helm of Penn State, I could not be more proud and there is no better person to be leading our program.
Craig Mattick: Yeah, you're not surprised at all that she's a coach for-
Ashley Pederson...: No.
Craig Mattick: ... what she did, but how about Coach Rose? Russ Rose there 42 years, what, seven titles, 17 big 10 titles. What did he see in you as a player?
Ashley Pederson...: Well, that's a good question. I think he saw just a hard-working raw athlete that had a desire to play at a big level. And at that time, I was playing multiple sports. He really liked that about me and he just saw a lot of potential. I was competitive. I wanted to be at the next level. I wanted to compete, and so he brought me into the gym. He asked, "Do you think you can play here on my recruiting visit?" And I said, "Yes," and the rest is history, but he is a really tough coach to play for, but he gets the very best out of his athletes and I had just a phenomenal experience playing for him.
Craig Mattick: Yeah, you mentioned you were a two-sport athlete at Sioux Falls, Roosevelt, you not only played volleyball, but you played for the legendary Fred Tibbetts, four straight basketball titles. You were part of an 83 game win streak when you were at Roosevelt. Of course, that would go on to be in a 111 game win streak back in the late nineties, in the early 200s, basketball was in the fall in South Dakota and volleyball was in the winter, but what was it like playing for Fred Tibbetts?
Ashley Pederson...: Well, he was obviously a very successful coach, but he was the best prep for me for college because he was tough. He demanded a lot. He took a lot of pride in the program and building young players and filtering them really through up to be varsity players. And so, I feel like he taught me what I needed to know, the little bit I needed to know going into college and how to play for a tough coach who demanded really excellence on the daily. I really enjoyed playing for Coach Tibbetts. He was fun, he was intense. He was a player's coach. He got us all really excited, and to be a part of that ride of that win streak is really something that I'm proud of to this day, and I think it's just something that's so special.
Craig Mattick: Roosevelt was loaded with talent on those basketball teams that you played on, and about a half dozen of those basketball players also played volleyball with you, so you spent a lot of time with those ladies from August through March. What did basketball do though for you for preparing for volleyball?
Ashley Pederson...: I think honestly, the thing that I took away from basketball was winning. We learned how to win in that program. We every day had to work hard to defend our win streak that we had going on. We knew people were gunning for us, but just really the work ethic that was required to compete at a high level is what I took away from basketball. And also, I think Fred Tibbetts just did a masterful job of getting players to buy into the team in the program. There was girls in the gym at Open Gyms in sixth, seventh, eighth grade wanting to play. And so, it was neat to see what kind of community and family he created within that program. And then even amongst ourselves, I wasn't the star on the basketball team I think I started, but there was so many great players and everybody was incredibly unselfish on the team.
And we were all fans of each other and really celebrated what we all brought to the team and I think that's really unique, especially in today's sports, to have a team of 15 players that all get an opportunity to play and all are really cheering for each other.
Craig Mattick: Michelle Jewett was your volleyball coach. What did you like about Coach Jewett?
Ashley Pederson...: Oh, she was so fun. All of the coaches on the volleyball program were role models to us. They were really fun to be in the gym with. She had an amazing career at Augustana and so she knew a lot about the game. And again, she was such a pivotal person in the recruiting process for me, such a good support system. It was a bit overwhelming at the time as I was navigating that, but she was just right there beside me and helping me to make tough decisions and to push me, to keep me humble, to keep me working hard and to really keep focused on today at the time, and then also really to help me to dream bigger and to really pursue my dreams for playing at the collegiate level.
Craig Mattick: You're just over six foot tall. When did that growing spurt happen?
Ashley Pederson...: Oh, you know what, I feel like I stopped growing maybe my sophomore or junior year of high school. I popped out at six foot and that at the time was a good-sized outside for the division one level. Now I feel like outsides are 6'2, 6'4, 6'5. But yeah, probably sophomore, junior year in high school I was done growing.
Craig Mattick: You're a freshman, I think about 1998, and you were chosen to participate in the Olympic training program out in Colorado. What was that like?
Ashley Pederson...: It was really special to go out there and to be asked to be a part of that. I'm so appreciative of those experiences because truly, it helped me to compete with some of the best players in the country. And anytime you're competing with the best players in the country, especially as a high school student athlete, it's intimidating. And so, it really challenged me to grow thick skin, take feedback from other coaches, play at a high level, have enough confidence in myself and in my ability. And so, I feel like it really grew me as an athlete and also just seeing what else was out there. I was a girl from South Dakota who, like you had said high school sports were flip-flop.
I didn't have as much exposure as some of the other players that were training at the national facility, and so it was really neat for me to go and to see what else was out there and to experience that level of volleyball.
Craig Mattick: Was there one part of the game that they said, you have to get better at doing this if you want to maybe go play college volleyball?
Ashley Pederson...: In high school, I was just a well-rounded athlete, and so I played middle, but I got a hit pin to pin. I was the biggest player on our team, so that seemed like the right position for me, but I'm so thankful I was able to play back row because that helped to develop that skill for me, which I used in college. I was switched to the outside in college, but I think back row and just learning how to read the game, learning how to hit out of the back row, learning how to pass and also be targeted. When you're a six rotation player, you have people that are gunning for you all the time just to try to shake up your game a little bit. So, that was probably the best part of high school, just having that chance to play six rotations because it was the best preparation for college.
Craig Mattick: You played the best of three sets back then. You played the 15, right? You had to win by two of course, but there was no rally scoring, no libero. You had to win the serve to get the point. Do you remember some matches that just lasted forever because of that setup?
Ashley Pederson...: Yeah, honestly, it's funny thinking back of, wow, the game has changed so much. And if we switch now to traditional scoring, I wonder how many girls would still be interested in playing? Because it could be just back and forth, but to earn a point was really, really challenging. But yeah, it's funny to look back and to see what rules have changed, the nets and the serve. There's a million things that are different now about it, but some of those old games against Washington specifically I remember were just battles and I'm sure that they lasted. There was no set time for them. It was an open-ended night where it could last an hour, it could last two and a half hours. You just never knew.
Craig Mattick: And the state volleyball tournament at the time was a double elimination tournament, and that's how Washington got you guys as you were a sophomore I think. I'm trying to remember here.
Ashley Pederson...: Yeah, my sophomore year we tried to come back, but we couldn't beat them twice in a row. So, yeah.
Craig Mattick: Back then, it was Washington or Huron that always seemed to be getting in the way for you guys to not only get to the finals, but to win a championship.
Ashley Pederson...: Yeah, Washington was really good. They had tall players, they had really aggressive hitters I remember at the time, and it seemed like they were really well-rounded, so it was like, pick your poison, you're just going to try to slow them down as best as you could. But we had some really fun competitive matches with them and some of those girls I still see to this day, which is also really fun.
Craig Mattick: Well, your junior year, you play a Washington in the state volleyball tournament. They had your number, but you beat them. But then Washington had to play matches to get to the finals while you guys just was in the winner's bracket and waited for someone to show up, a brutal tournament, certainly a brutal format. What was it like though winning the championship that year?
Ashley Pederson...: It was so gratifying. A lot of those players, I played basketball with us as well, and so it was fun to compete not only on the basketball court, but to transition that over to volleyball. And I'll never forget some of the seniors that we played with and how hard they played. I feel like they were the best supporters of me. I know that I'm sure I got a lot of attention and people were talking about me, especially my junior year with having committed to Penn State, but they didn't ever show signs of being jealous or envious. They just were amazing teammates to me and we're all excited to be winning and competing together, and certainly to top that off with a championship that year was just really icing on the cake.
Craig Mattick: Well, your senior year, you're Roosevelt again, you get in the finals and guess who Washington, but this time, you lose to Washington in the semifinals and you had to beat O'Gorman to get into the championship. Tell me about the second match that you had in the trying to win another championship.
Ashley Pederson...: Oh, you know what? Honestly, it's not that clear. What I remember about that is just sitting in the locker room after that match and just being just devastated for that chapter to be closing and all of the memories that we had made as a team. And I think any time a season finishes, you have so much time to reflect on the highs and also the lows. And I think just as a senior, I felt so disappointed that we went out with a loss, but you know what? It didn't take away from the success that we had and how much we built as a team over the course of my four years. We got better every single year that we played, and so you have to always look at the positive and look at the things that you learned as a team and certainly, they went on to continue to have more success at Roosevelt.
So, that always makes me happy and knowing like Kathleen Hruska are some really good players that came through after me. And so, everybody, all the things always move on after you finish up
Craig Mattick: All those years playing basketball and volleyball, did you have any major injuries or were you lucky enough to get by and get a little lucky of not having a big time injury?
Ashley Pederson...: Yeah, you know what? In high school, I didn't have any injuries aside from an ankle sprain here or there, but in college, I actually played my senior year with two stress fractures in my foot. So, it was about the time of October that I started to have a lot of pain in my foot. And so, I went in and obviously they saw I was broken and I had two choices. One, I could sit out or I could finish up the season. So, during the week and during the day, I'd be in a boot and then I would tape my ankle up as tight as I possibly could to not have it flex and then I would play. The hardest part of that season for me was just knowing that I wasn't at my full capacity and knowing that the team was really depending on me.
I was leading our team in kills that year and was supposed to have an amazing season. And although we did have a great season, I always in the back of my mind feel like I had more in me, but I did the best I could with what I had, but it was definitely a year that challenged me. And also, my teammates rallied around me and seeing other people step up and in different positions was the best part of that season and something I'll never forget.
Craig Mattick: Gatorade, player of the year for South Dakota, your senior year, what did that honor mean to you?
Ashley Pederson...: Well, it was really special. I mean, every accolade I look back on and think, man, that was really special that someone thought that highly of me to give me that award, especially because we had so much attention on our basketball team. For me to have some of those for volleyball felt really good, and I was really proud of that and proud of our team for winning that state championship my junior year, simply because it was the sport that I loved and it was fun to be able to share that with my teammates too. But all of the awards that I got really were a reflection of the amazing coaches that I had and that I played for, and then also the teammates who just helped continue to make me better each and every day.
Craig Mattick: Ashley, you love volleyball, but you could have played basketball in college too. You ever thought about that? What if I would've chosen basketball, instead of volleyball?
Ashley Pederson...: You know what? My mind was made up really early. My sister was 10 years older than me and she played volleyball at Minnesota State, Mankato, and I loved her and I idolized her growing up. And so, seeing her play volleyball, I think that was a dream of mine. And in seventh, eighth grade, I think my mind was made up going into high school. I had that opportunity to play both sports or play one or the other. I remember Dave Calf at Augustana always saying, "You could come here and do both." But I really never entertained the idea. I never went on any recruiting visits for basketball. I knew I wanted to be a volleyball player. It was a sport that I excelled in, and I saw so much potential in myself in that sport, and I had the drive and the motivation.
It was slightly different with basketball. I was just as competitive, but I didn't have the same drive to be a leading point scorer for our team. I was a role player and I really liked the roles that I played, but my upside was certainly in volleyball, so it was an easy decision for me at an early age.
Craig Mattick: Ashley, you were one of the first out of South Dakota to play big 10 volleyball. I know Taryn Cloth from O'Gorman, she played at LSU and she got into the Olympics, of course, Bergen Reilly at Nebraska from O'Gorman, Brynn Kirsch from Lincoln played for Kansas. I know I'm missing a few others, but why did you choose Penn State over all the other schools that were looking for you back at that time?
Ashley Pederson...: I loved Penn State because when I walked on campus, it immediately felt like home. It really reminded me of in so many ways, Sioux Falls. It is a small community outside of the school, and there's this family feel I think when you're on campus. It's also not a campus that's in a huge city, and I really liked that I wanted to be somewhere that I felt safe in. But when I visited specifically Rec hall and saw the team play in the facility and I got to sit down with Coach Rose, there was something about it that was slightly intimidating to be honest, where I was like, "This is where I want to be challenged. This feels like home. This is the place that I want to come, has an amazing tradition and legacy and history. Alumni are a huge part of what they talk about in the recruiting process."
And even to this day, I still feel a part of the program. And so, I knew it was special when I walked on campus. It helped that they had won the national championship in '99. So, the year that I was being recruited, they ended up winning it. So, it was a no-brainer for me. I visited a lot of places, but I always came back to Penn State was my number one choice. And when coach offered me, I was like, "Let me think about it." And Coach was on the phone, was like, "What do you need to think about?" He is like, "You've been wanting to come here." I'm like, "You're right. I'll go. It's a yes." So, it's funny, but he was the last team to offer me, and when he did, it was an immediate yes.
Craig Mattick: 2001 to 2004, you're at Penn State. You did not red shirt your freshman year. In fact that freshman year, you're used to all of the no rally scoring, no libero, just a double elimination tournament at state, but you go to college and the NCAA introduced rally scoring your freshman year. And in sets one through four, you had to get to 30 points instead of 25. What was that year like trying to adapt to all those new rules?
Ashley Pederson...: I don't think that I remember the rules and the changes in the game being the most challenging part. Truly it was the physicality of the game. When you jump from playing in South Dakota and playing high school and you move to that next level, there's a big difference between an 18-year-old freshman and a 22-year-old senior. And so, that was, I think the hardest part for me was that adjustment, just competing at the next level, playing with girls that were bigger with more experience, the mental toughness it took to not only play during preseason, but then to play a longer season. So, my freshman year was a transition in so many ways, but it was an evolution too. It's like you see yourself grow and every little thing that you do, you're like, "Oh, I got this. I can do that."
And that's what I think Coach Rose is so good at. He trains you to really hit your next level every single day. And when you look back, all of a sudden, you're like all those days add up and you're further ahead than you ever thought you could be. And so, playing for him was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but he got the very best out of me and every player that's played in the program too.
Craig Mattick: I went back and I looked at, does Ashley Peterson Buckley have any records yet at Penn State? Where does she line up, even after more than 24 years playing at Penn State? You have two top five finishes in attacks for a season and one of your biggest nights in your volleyball career at Penn State, your junior year at Wisconsin, 31 kills in five sets. What do you remember from that night?
Ashley Pederson...: I remember getting a lot of balls that night.
Craig Mattick: A lot of attacks.
Ashley Pederson...: Taking a lot of swings that night. Gosh, that was such a fun match. There was a couple that really stand out in my mind. But anytime you have your career high, it's a night you never forget. And that is a special one because I loved playing at Wisconsin. I had a lot of family that would travel there. Playing in that arena is like nothing else. It's one of the top, I would say three to five places you can play in the country. It's just a really, really cool and electric place to play. And having a career high and ever hitting that amount of kills, I don't know that I would've ever thought I could do that. So, it's a really neat thing to still be able to say I did.
Craig Mattick: And then 2004, your senior year, you become the 16th Nittany Lion to reach a thousand kills, and you did it against Stanford. Was that something you would ever get to, you thought, "Yeah, I can get to a thousand kills at Penn State"?
Ashley Pederson...: It's not even something that I had on my radar, I don't think. I'm sure that I saw teammates who had a thousand kills throughout their career, and at some point I said, that's something I would like to do, but it's a natural evolution of being an outside hitter where you get a lot of swings and it's a matter of what you do with those swings. So, it was quite an honor to get that. It was special to do that at Stanford. We won that match in five. I remember being on the end line and I think serving seven or eight balls in a row, it was a magical match for us because we were behind. But I'll never forget that tournament, being a tournament team, winning that game and also having my parents there too was pretty neat.
Craig Mattick: Did you play any professional volleyball?
Ashley Pederson...: I did. I went on after my senior year to play in Spain for nine months. I played in Cordoba, and then I went on that following year to play in Puerto Rico for a year.
Craig Mattick: Wow, nice. Traveling the world a little bit and playing the sport you love.
Ashley Pederson...: Yeah.
Craig Mattick: Can't beat that.
Ashley Pederson...: No, it was, yeah, really fun.
Craig Mattick: So, you graduate from Penn State in '04. Were there thoughts of coaching volleyball at that time, even after playing professional volleyball?
Ashley Pederson...: All the right doors just opened up for me. I don't think that I graduated thinking that I was going to go into. But after a conversation with Kim Sudbeck, I knew instantly it's what I wanted to do. I spent a little bit of time at USS a year that I played in Puerto Rico. I coached there for just a little bit, dip my toes in with coaching the JV team, and I really enjoyed it. And then once I talked to Kim Sudbeck, I knew it's what I wanted to do, and I was really, really lucky to be able to coach with her for one year because I learned so much. She was the head of so many committees for division two volleyball at the time, and somebody I respected a lot.
And so, getting that opportunity to coach with her for a year and then to take over the program was quite an honor, and I always feel so grateful to her for giving me that opportunity.
Craig Mattick: It's 2008 when Kim Sudbeck leaves Augie, and you are named the head coach. Do you think you were ready at that time after being an assistant coach for a couple of years?
Ashley Pederson...: I mean I was as ready as I could be. I, in hindsight, think, "Wow, she had a lot of trust in me for recommending me." Bill Gross also gave me that opportunity. And President Oliver, I'll never forget sitting in President Oliver's office and he said, "It's not the age of the tire, but the depth of the tread." And I'll never forget that because it just showed how much confidence they had in me and in my ability to lead that team. And I learned everything I needed to learn along the way. And that's what Kim said. She said, "It'll be a baptism by fire. You'll know what you need to do in the moment. And also, you have a whole army of people really supporting and surrounding you, so just reach out if you need anything."
Craig Mattick: Well, recruiting was a big thing, something different, maybe something you weren't used to or I certainly knew what the recruiting process was like, but what was it like getting into that recruiting process, thinking about who you want to get every year?
Ashley Pederson...: Yeah, recruiting is such a fun and very challenging aspect of coaching, especially with the NSIC being as competitive as it is, and so many of the players coming from the Midwest. When we would travel to Minneapolis, you see every other NSIC coach on the court going after the same exact girls. One of the things that was so helpful about my career at Augie was coaching at a school that had such an incredible academic and athletic reputation. It was such an easy sell for me. I loved selling Augie because it really didn't feel like a sales job. When people came onto campus, the program, the school, Sioux Falls, it sold itself. And so, that part of it made it really fun and enjoyable and easy for me. But I loved how competitive recruiting is.
I loved getting really great players in and finding players that really would fit well into the school because it is very unique. It's much different than if a player is interested in St. Cloud. I love talking about the similarities and differences in schools, but the type of players that we brought in really went on to have amazing, successful careers. And I'm really proud of everything that the players that graduated from our program have done and did while they were there too.
Craig Mattick: Yeah, you had five out of seven winning seasons there at Augustana. How would you grade yourself, now that you think about it? Don't be too hard on yourself here now, Ashley, but how would you grade your coaching experience at Augustana?
Ashley Pederson...: Oh, gosh. That's tough. I mean, I am pretty critical, so I would say it was never good enough. And one of the parts that I'll always have regret about is just that we didn't make the regional tournament. We were always so close. We were always like that spring, seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th, right in that mix. And it was so cutthroat to get into the regional tournament. And that's something that in hindsight, I'm like, "What could we have done better or differently to make ourselves more competitive or to be in a better position to make that?" But at the end of the day, we were playing in the best conference in the country, and I feel like we did a good job. I feel like the team really represented themselves well, and I feel like we were competitive.
So, I would've felt different if we would've had a three, three-game win season, but we never had that. We were competing with the best of the best. We had some amazing wins along the way and well respected too.
Craig Mattick: After seven years, you do resign though from Augustana as the volleyball coach. What were you thinking about it at that time?
Ashley Pederson...: At that time, we had young kids. We had three young boys, and my husband was traveling a lot for work, and so I just had to make some... we did as a family, just some really hard decisions about what we envision our life looking like down the road. We were thinking we would have another son or another kid, didn't know it was going to be a son at that time, but that's something we went on to do. And I feel like it would've been really challenging to continue to coach and also to give my family what they needed. As a very demanding profession, it's one that is, I was just all in. And so, during the season, I feel like I just didn't have a whole lot to give emotionally to my family. And I knew at some point, they would need me in a whole different way.
And now looking back, I know it was hard, but it was the right decision and I wanted to be there for my kids. And now with them being in high school and my oldest being in high school, I realize I am exactly where I need to be right now. Supporting them in their careers and in their athletic careers. It was a hard decision and one that I've probably never had a job that I've been more passionate about. And that's the trickiest part, is in another life without kids, I'd be coaching at division level because that's how much I love the game, and that's how much I love coaching, but it's not meant to be for us right now.
Craig Mattick: When did you get interested in photography?
Ashley Pederson...: I got interested in photography probably 11 years ago when our kids were really young. We had a lot of friends that having babies, and at that time, I want to do something that was a little less competitive, a little less black and white, something that felt good, and that just really was a gift to other people. And so, that's how I got started, and then I quickly became really passionate about it and I learned everything that I could. I wanted to research it, and I just found that it was a good creative outlet for me and something that I had never really explored before because I was always doing volleyball and athletics. So, it's something that I think is a slight departure from athletics, would've never envisioned it, but it's something I've really enjoyed doing.
Craig Mattick: And it's now a business for you, right?
Ashley Pederson...: Yes, yep. That's what I do full-time.
Craig Mattick: A husband and four boys can change a few things too, if you want to coach. You married your high school sweetheart, Jeff, by the way. He was a pretty good basketball player for Roosevelt. And I'm assuming those four boys are all over sports at their ages right now?
Ashley Pederson...: Yeah. Yep, we've got boys ranging from 16 all the way down to eight. And of course, they love sports. They love playing basketball and football. And we also as a family, just love being out on the water. We have a boat down in Yankton, and so we're trying to do as much as we can as a family outside of sports as well, just to create some memories because sports nowadays are year round and you hardly get any time outside of sports to just be together as a family where you're not missing something. So, we're trying our best to balance the demands of them wanting to play and be in everything and also just to have a bit of family time as well outside of the gym.
Craig Mattick: Is coaching volleyball again, a possibility?
Ashley Pederson...: I would say never say never, right? I think there'll be a day and a time and an opportunity that will present itself. It's not right now. I've been asked to look at a couple of high school jobs in the area, and I'm always honored and I'm thankful when people ask and think of me still. But right now, I don't want to trade my time with my boys and watching them and supporting them and cheering them on with being in the gym and being with other players, to be quite honest and a little bit selfish as well, just I'm not a good person that can, I wouldn't say can't balance it, but I'm all in and whatever I do. So, if I'm going to coach at whatever level it's going to be, I'm all in and I know that something we'll have to give. And right now, I just don't want it to be my own children.
Craig Mattick: Got one more for you, Ashley, from winning high school basketball and volleyball titles, playing in the Big 10 with volleyball, coaching, college volleyball, what did you bring to the sport of volleyball that you are most proud of?
Ashley Pederson...: Hmm, great question. I hope that I, especially 15 years ago, inspired other girls to see that you can play college volleyball. I know now volleyball has taken over basketball in our sport, and there are a lot of really, really talented girls that are getting amazing opportunities to go play collegiately. But when I was playing, I didn't have that example and that role model to look up to. And I hope that I inspired some players to pursue volleyball and also be okay with saying, "I'm not going to do basketball. I'm going to play volleyball instead." I also hope that I was a little part of getting Kairos going and getting another program going.
And I wasn't a part of building it necessarily, but just also sharing like, "Hey, we have a lot of talented athletes here that want to play volleyball. And just showing them that those opportunities are available. And I'm really excited for all of the players right now that are getting the exposure that they deserve and the chances that they are getting to play at that next level.
Craig Mattick: In Play with Craig Mattick has made possible by Horton in Britain, where smiling at work happens all the time. Apply now at Hortonwww.com. If you like what you're hearing, please give us a five-star review wherever you get your podcast. It helps us gain new listeners. This has been In Play with me, Craig Mattick. This is a production of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
