Senior captain Audrey Spindle recently committed to playing volleyball at Catawba College, a D2 school in North Carolina. An amazing and tenacious player on the court, and an intelligent scholar in the classroom, Audrey’s commitment to Catawba comes as no surprise to her teammates and coaches. However; Audrey’s journey to Catawba was not always clear.
Audrey began playing volleyball when she was eleven years old. Prior to pursuing volleyball her sports included basketball and softball, however; after seeing her own family enjoy the beauty of the sport she decided to try her hand at volleyball herself. Soon Audrey was hooked, falling in love with the teamwork aspect of the sport she soon began to specialize in volleyball, prioritizing it over the other sports she pursued.
When asked about what her favorite aspect of volleyball was, Audrey replied; “The teamwork that is involved with volleyball. It is not a one person sport-it’s the whole team against another team. It’s really unique.”
Not only is the sport unique, but so is Audrey’s playing ability. Coach Meagan Graff stated; “Not only does she have all around abilities and natural talent, but she works really hard to enhance those abilities. The other girls on the team look to her for guidance.”. Sam Watkins, fellow varsity teammate, and the captain would agree with Coach Meagan Graff’s assessment. “She’s a good leader,” Sam said, “She plays smart, she uses her head”.
So was there really any doubt about playing in college?
While Coach Meagan Graff had no doubts about this senior playing at the collegiate level, Audrey herself wasn’t certain. After going through a series of bad coaching experiences Audrey started to drift away from the idea of pursuing a collegiate career. It wasn’t until Audrey switched to Metro Volleyball club that she became absolute in playing volleyball in college. Audrey states; “I didn’t find my true love for the sport until last year. At Metro volleyball club I had a great coach and a group of girls who really made me realize that I wanted to play in college.”
Now Audrey is excitedly awaiting her collegiate career. As a hopeful environmental major, Audrey was impressed by Catawba’s environmental program and felt that this school stood out above the rest.
With a college commitment down, and only a few more months left of her final high school career this senior remains grateful for all of the people who have helped her on her journey.
“I would like to thank my mother. She has been with me all my life. Most of my life it has just been me and her. She has helped me to overcome my fears, pushed me to my limits, and told me that it’s alright. She has helped me with my recruiting journey and even with volleyball skills. I love her to death. I would also like to thank Jerry, the coach of the Metropolitan Volleyball club. He gave me private lessons and helped me increase my volleyball skills.”
We are certainly thrilled to have such an amazing athlete at Saint John’s Catholic Prep, and in the words of Coach Meagan Graff; “I hope she knows how proud we are of her”.
The Viking Journal 