After playing for school and club teams throughout high school, seniors Trinniti Stevens, Emma Masters and Lauren Lopez chose the collegiate athlete path. Debating college directions, each student has expressed the difficulty in committing to an abiding sports program. 

Four-year volleyball player Stevens, committed in August of 2023 to Middle Tennessee State’s collegiate volleyball program. MTSU’s volleyball program is a Division 1 team earning titles such as All-Conference, USA All-Academic team player and USA Players of the Week. 

“I chose MTSU because of the smaller campus, good distance from home and being able to come out of college with no debt,” Stevens said. “I am looking forward to making new friends and bonding with my teammates as well as not having to worry about as much money because of my scholarship.”

According to head volleyball coach Lindsay Franco, there are many benefits of going on to play at the next level: teamwork, work ethic, time management, and working through adversity.

 “Being a committed senior on the team is a lot less pressure, as I am a role model for the program,” Stevens said.

Athletic signing events take place all throughout the winter and spring and are held in the auditorium where the student signs their letter of intent. Student-athletes also explore their university options between these seasons. 

Third-year cheerleading flier, Emma Masters, is looking into Arizona State University for a cheerleading and spirit squad athletic commitment.

“I chose ASU because I value independence a lot, and I genuinely believe that going to ASU is going to open up a lot of good opportunities for me to be able to explore myself, the team and everything,” Masters said. 

Beginning the college process early, Masters first got in contact with ASU’s admissions last spring to begin the tryout procedures to create stunt groups. 

“I’m usually a last-minute person, and so when it comes to college decision time, the earlier, the better for me,” Masters said. “That way I can get everything situated, as far as dorms and everything goes and all that.”

According to head cheer coach Taryn Frank, cheer teams will hold their tryouts in the Spring, making it difficult to commit as early as other programs do. College admissions counselors and coaches often reach out to high school coaches, as well as hold clinics throughout the school year and summer, which are open to anyone interested in cheering at the college.

NCAA Division 1 team, Arizona State’s cheerleading program is uniquely named a ‘spirit squad’ as well as being part of the ‘Big 12 Tournament’ for college cheerleading. 

“As a flier, I’m most looking forward to stunting in that portion of the tryout,” Masters said. “A lot of my decision was wanting the experience. I might not be cheering for all four years, but at least I can know that I went out and tried out for the team, for an experience and a good way to start.”

Four-year player and senior Lauren Lopez committed to Rockhurst University in May of 2023 taking a position on their volleyball team as well as taking interest in their pre-med program. Earning Team Academic Honor Roll for being in the top 20 percent, the Rockhurst Hawks is a NCAA Division 2 team with All-American players and made it to the NCAA regional semifinals. 

“I enjoyed Rockhurst from the first time I stepped on campus,” Lopez said. “I love that it is close to home, I received a scholarship and it’s a good fit academically, but I also considered other schools like Princeton and SLU” 

Each student has expressed not only the difficulty of the decision but also how physically and mentally demanding an athletic path can be in college. 

According to Masters, the biggest challenge is the time commitment, catching up on missed practices and staying on top of skills. 

“Cheerleading at any academic level is very time consuming,” Frank said. “Cheerleaders are typically known as the face of any school and they are to promote school spirit at all times. I think it can be very difficult to be “peppy” and cheery 24/7 when life happens around us.”

Taking it step by step, Lopez expressed how pressure can be a large factor in the demands of being a collegiate athlete. 

“The college commitment process is all individualized, so each and every athlete has their own challenges and hurdles to overcome,” Franco said. “This could be things such as the location of the school, distance from home, the coaching staff, the majors of the college, etc.”

Specific to cheer, coaches help their girls prepare for collegiate-level cheering by competing multiple times in the Fall for KSHSAA, a yearly competition through the Kansas State High School Activities Association. 

“High school cheer and collegiate cheer can be very different in many ways,” Frank said. “The level of stunting difficulty is much higher compared to high school levels. This is due to rules put on high school cheer teams to ensure the safety of all athletes. We practice new and exciting stunts that are safe for KSHSAA and also try to achieve the best game day atmosphere we can.” 

Similarly, volleyball coaches prepare their teams through summer workouts and practices to create team bonding and cooperation, as well as educate them on issues such as physical recovery and injury prevention. 

“All of the coaches in our program played volleyball in college at various levels, so we have all had experience in this area and know how to help prepare our players,” Franco said. “We do this through study halls, mental training, physical strength and conditioning training, how to talk to college coaches, watching film and making clips of film to market yourself to coaches, etc.”

According to Stevens, the teammates try to help each other grow as players and people as the school promotes community and skill building.

“I just really love the community aspect and building a bond with people, kind of having built-in best friends,” Masters said. “I really love trying new skills and learning new things to do. As far as stunting and tumbling goes, it’s really an adrenaline rush when you hit a new skill.”

According to Lopez, a unique aspect of the high school program is that the team is formed of leaders and strong mentors for each other and those outside the team. This is reflected in the volleyball team’s 28 state championship titles, and the cheer team’s ranking of sixth at KSHSAA last fall. 

“This senior class is special,” Franco said. “They have put in the work for four years in this program. Every single one of these seven seniors has bought into the program we are trying to recreate here along with the traditions and improving our program culture. They are the reason why this program has been successful within these last three years and we all have these expectations moving forward to this season.”