The recruiting process is a whirlwind for many athletes who are attempting to continue their careers in sports, and Allen Community College volleyball’s Kayleigh Roberts took that to the next level in the past month.
The Douglass, Kan., native was playing in a sand volleyball tournament in April when coaches from Southwestern College in Winfield took notice of her talent.
“It was sort of a accident,” Roberts said. “I was just playing in the sand volleyball tournament and she recruited me from there.”
Roberts had been planning to attend Wichita State University and focus on her studies, but when the opportunity to continue her volleyball career appeared, she felt the need to explore it.
“It was a spur of the moment type thing,” Allen coach Whitney Shaw said of the switch.
On Wednesday, Roberts made the move to the Southwestern College Moundbuilders official with a signing ceremony at Allen.
“I really liked her when I first met her,” Roberts said of Southwestern coach Carolina Garbato. “I previously knew of her and Southwestern, so to have the opportunity to play for her at Southwestern is to be super exciting.”
For Roberts, attending Southwestern gives her the opportunity to play close to home. Winfield is just 22 miles from Douglass.
“It will be nice to be close,” Roberts said. “My brother will be a senior (in high school), so I will get to go to a lot of his stuff.”
She joins a program that is trying to build a winning program after finishing with a 10-23 record in 2015.
Roberts appreciates her time at Allen working with Shaw.
“It improved my skill level immensely,” she said.
