After long practices, early mornings, and endless tournaments, the intense commitment to volleyball has finally paid off for seniors Ryann Knuth and Maddie Mietus, Girls’ Varsity Volleyball players. Knuth is committed to play indoor volleyball at the University of San Diego, and Mietus is committed to play beach volleyball at Tennessee Tech University.

Both Knuth’s and Mietus’ commitments mark a major milestone in their lives, they said. For both athletes, their passion for volleyball have not faded, but deepened over time, Knuth and Mietus said.

“Even if it’s a hard practice, I always want to play and develop more,”  Knuth said.

Mietus shared a similar feeling, she said. Her commitment was a dream and now a reality, as Tennessee Tech recruited her, Mietus said.

“I had always dreamed of going D1 and it wasn’t a serious dream,” Mietus said. “But as I got better and better, I realized that it was a reachable goal.”

For Knuth, she faced the pressure when she was young, as she would play at a high competitive level, she said. Even though the pressure was sometimes overpowering, it helped prepare her to one day be part of a D1 team, Knuth said.

“Being on [JV] my freshman year and a starter on varsity since my sophomore year, I have had to grow fast and adapt to the [intense] level of play,” Knuth said.

Mietus’ journey of transferring from a small town in Wisconsin her sophomore year came with a lot of obstacles, Kelly Dorn, Girls’ Varsity Volleyball Coach, said. Mietus went through burnout last year which was challenging because it happened during her prime recruiting season. She worried she wasn’t showing what she had to college coaches her full potential.

“I felt like I was letting my team down, and I didn’t feel like I was showing colleges what I really had [to offer],” Mietus said. “That was frightening to me, but I got better and bounced back and played 10 times better.”

Knuth is a six-rotation outside hitter which means she rarely leaves the court and is able to play any position she is placed in, she said. This puts lots of weight and responsibility on her, Knuth said.

“I have to understand that there isn’t time [to] be in my own head,” Knuth said. “When I have setbacks, I remember I am the leader of the team and I need to inspire and guide the people around me.”

Mietus has very high standards, wanting to set an example for people, especially the people she surrounds herself with.

“I want [South] to remember me as someone who is always kind, because that’s one of the most important things to me,” Mietus said.