It’s your big day, the day that depicts your future. A college scout is in the crowd, analyzing your every move, but your head has to be in the game. Blur out all the distractions, the crowd, the yelling, and the cheering, and prepare yourself to win.
Junior Kenzie Kucks and senior Makenza Holly live by this rule every single time they step onto the court. Both Kucks and Holly have committed to playing collegiate volleyball.
Kucks has committed to Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, and Holly to the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas. Lipscomb University has a D1 volleyball program which is a more competitive program compared to the University of Saint Mary’s, which is a NAIA division.
Both Holly and Kucks felt an instant sense of belonging at their universities. The people and the environment was a whole new experience they were excited to try.
“Nashville was a really fun place to be in and when I was on campus it felt like a home. I could see myself living there immediately,” Kucks said
Kucks began playing volleyball when she was 6 years old and has been playing volleyball for 10 years. She started her commitment process towards the beginning of 2023 and finally got committed this August.
“I started by just emailing colleges with my highlight videos, introducing myself, and inviting them to watch me at bigger tournaments. Then it’s a waiting game. If they came to watch me and, more importantly, if they liked what they saw they would email me back on June 15th,” Kucks said.
June 15th is the initial contact date for college coaches at the NCAA Division I and Division II levels to email and call a rising junior for recruitment. The whole process of emailing, taking videos, and the overall process of getting committed was difficult for Kucks because she had to balance her social life and school just for volleyball.
“For me, the commitment process was like dating a bunch of boys, I had to keep track of what each school needed, what they provided, and how they benefit me. So the whole process was just having to write things down but it’s all worth it in the end because even though it’s stressful it’s nice to know what you will do in the future,” Kucks said.
Both Kucks and Holly had a similar process of getting committed to colleges and starting sophomore year. It took Holly and her family 2 long years to find the right fit.
“Finally getting committed was a sense of relief to me and my family. It felt unreal when the process was over and I could finally focus on having fun while playing,” Holly said.
Holly has been playing for a total of 10 years. She never expected that a game of neighborhood volleyball would lead her to step on a court for a national competition.
“Going to Las Vegas was awesome. We played all day and at night we had time to venture into the whole city. But the best part was being able to complete my childhood dream of traveling and playing volleyball,” Holly said.
Holly and her team placed 5th in the Las Vegas nationals. For Holly, it was an amazing experience to learn about how recruiting works and how to work with her team.
For Holly, the recruiting process was long and stressful but with the help and advice of her college coach Rian Robinson the whole process became easier. Rian Robinson was someone Kucks and Holly could come and talk to about the whole process.
“I help with the commitment process as much as my players want me to. If/when they approach me about recruiting, I will usually talk through what their expectations for college ball are and what they plan to do academically. From there I usually help the girls make a list of schools that would be good for them to reach out to. From there it varies by athlete how involved I am,” Robinson said.
Robinson is proud of how far Kucks and Holly have come and knew from the start that they would make it with guidance.
“From the start, I knew these girls were going to make it far, and helping them through their journey to get better was a journey I loved being a part of,” Robinson said.