Seniors Sign For Collegiate Sports
Samm Sack
Staff Writer
She once was a child, looking up to the tall and lean players who hit the ball like a rocket and blocked kills like they were brick walls. It was obvious these girls had worked hard all of their life to make it into the big league, and she wanted to follow suit.
Throughout her younger years, senior Kenzi Hyde conditioned a little longer and practiced a little harder so that one day she would be as good as the girls she used to watch on the court.
Now, Hyde is only a semester away from competing at the level she had longed to qualify for since childhood.
“I never thought I’d be able to play college volleyball,” Hyde said, “but after hard-work and determination, I proved myself wrong.”
Hyde has played club volleyball most of her life, and took the Waverly girls to the State tournament twice in her high school career. College volleyball gave her a chance to not only play ball but begin her collegiate career with awesome scholarships.
Hyde and softball-player Nicki Larsen will both attend the College of Saint Mary, an all girls school out of Omaha. Hyde signed Dec. 11 and Larsen signed Oct. 31.
“Signing was a huge relief,” Larsen said. “I picked Saint Mary’s because of the school, but playing softball and possibly being able to play basketball will really be a plus.”
Larsen was starting pitcher all four high school years and was nominated Honorable Mention by the Omaha World Herald. She also made it onto the First Team Class B All-State Softball Team, which placed her on the Athletic Wall of Fame.
She accredits most of her success to the man who taught her all she knows: her father.
“I wouldn’t be where I am without the dedication my dad put into me and into softball,” Larsen said.
The other two fall sport players continuing onto college are volleyball-players Dani Root and Olivia Boender. Root will graduate from Waverly High School at semester to begin preseason early with her new college classmates.
“I will definitely miss all of my volleyball teammates and the memories we’ve made,” Root said, “but I am very anxious to start my new life and career.”
Root signed Nov. 13 to play volleyball at West Virginia University, a Division I college.
Future Husker Olivia Boender signed for UNL the very same day Root did.
Boender has a passion for the sport, and leads the team in kills, aces and blocks. She is up on the Athletic Wall of Fame, and was recently voted Gatorade Player of the Year for Nebraska. All of these accomplishments in high school will surely allow her to succeed through to college.
The fall season has come to a close for these girls; the tears materialized and dried as the last high school game they’ll play ended. The chapter they started four years ago, trying to be noticed as freshmen but dominating the courts as seniors, has finally turned its last page.
