June 21, 2014
VERMILLION, S.D. – South Dakota volleyball player Kendall Kritenbrink has played 83 matches over the past three years representing USD. For the next week and a half she'll be representing the USA.
Kritenbrink is one of 36 athletes chosen by USA Volleyball to be a part of the U.S. Collegiate National Team that will compete at the U.S. Junior National Championships in Minneapolis. She's scheduled to start practice with the team on Sunday. For the Gretna, Neb., native, the experience of playing at this level will be priceless.
This opportunity means the world to me, said Kritenbrink. I've always dreamed of representing our country while doing something that I love and I still can't fathom the fact that I was chosen to be on the U.S. Collegiate Team.
The team is considered a second tryout for the U.S. National Team. The players will go through a training session before being split into three teams. They will then compete against each other during the junior championships from June 27-30.
Kritenbrink, who was last season's Summit League Player of the Year, was named to the team in April after going to the U.S. Women's National Team open tryouts in February at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Kritenbrink, teammate Kelsey Biltoft and former teammate Tori Kroll were among 248 participants at the tryout. The fact that she competed against and topped some of the best in the nation made the announcement that she had made the team that much more special.
When I found out I made the team was in complete shock, said Kritenbrink. I was pleased with how the tryout went but I still thought chances were slim. I'm still in complete shock that this journey is about to begin.
Kritenbrink described the tryout as three days of all out volleyball, with positional drills in the morning and competition in the afternoon. Despite being USD's second all-time leader and kills (1,426) and ranking fifth among active D-I players in kills per set (4.4), she still had hurdles to overcome. The 5-foot-11 soon to be senior had most of her competition looking down at her.
The highlight of the tryout was when a girl told me I was in the wrong positional group because I was too short to be an outside hitter, said Kritenbrink. She thought I was a libero, and considering I was one of the shortest outside hitters at the tryout, I'm sure many people thought the same thing.
Along with the experience, Kritenbrink expects this opportunity to be one that will help her grow into an even more solid player on USD's frontline. She'll have a lot of people to learn from, and she's not going to let any of it go to waste. There's still more to be accomplished.
I'm looking forward to the opportunity to play with some of the top volleyball players in the country, and being coached by the best coaches in the country will be an experience in itself, said Kritenbrink. I'm also looking forward to learning more about myself as a player and what I need to work on in preparation for my final season as a Coyote.
Although I have achieved one of my biggest dreams, I'm not satisfied. I'm going to soak up every second of the next week and a half and leave it all on the court.
