Entering the Student Activity Center for the second to last time, three volleyball seniors are commended for their dedication to the team while they reflect on the lasting memories made on the court.
Seniors Brette Barney, Jaclyn Condie and Kayla Chapman took to the court in one of their last games as DSU athletes on Nov. 11.
Although their DSU athletic careers end here, their plans for the future continue on.
“I’m pretty excited to join the nursing work force,” said middle blocker Kayla Chapman, a senior nursing major from Fullerton, California. “[I plan] on getting my bachelor’s [this] May.”
Chapman said something significant she will miss most about being on a team is the support she received from players and fans.
“People really do want you to succeed,” Chapman said. “You don’t really get that anywhere else.”
Head coach Robyn Felder said one of DSU’s traditions for the seniors is to have the friends and families of the players come watch the players compete one last time. The team even has a mini-celebration in the locker room.
“I wish we could just throw a party [for the seniors] for the whole year,” Felder said.
Libero Jaclyn Condie, a senior exercise science major from Cottonwood Heights, expressed her love for DSU and how her experience here has made a lasting impact.
“Looking back I’ll never remember the serves I missed or the mistakes I made,” Condie said. “But these friendships I’ll have for the rest of my life.”
Condie was recruited by four different colleges before ultimately deciding to attend DSU. She emphasized that playing for DSU was something that ‘just honestly felt right’ for her.
Felder was one of the convincing factors that led Condie to try out for the Trailblazer team. Felder has played a prominent role in the lives of each of the three seniors throughout the seasons by not only being a sports coach but a life one as well.
“One thing I love about coach Robyn is she’s such a great volleyball coach, but she also teaches us life lessons,” said right side hitter Brette Barney, a senior dental hygiene major from Prescott, Arizona. “[Coach Felder taught] that things aren’t easy but it’ll be better in the end; she’s such a great life coach.”
With some tears being shed on the court as the seniors said their goodbye’s each one of the seniors expressed what they’ll miss about playing volleyball.
“The girls for-sure,” Barney said. “I love being with girls … it’s so much fun to have 18 other best friends.”
Barney said the camaraderie the team shares is something it treasured and will be a memory for each of the seniorsas they move forward.
