Volleyball Newcomer Q&A: Kennedy Muckelroy
9/30/2020 1:13:00 PM | Volleyball
Sophomore - Right Side - Houston, Texas
On getting interested in volleyball
"I enjoyed the team aspect of it. It wasn't a contact sport and I liked that too. I started at a young age and was excelling the most in volleyball so I chose that over basketball or softball, which were the other two that I was playing. I really loved volleyball, it was an instant feeling. I loved the concept of the game and have always loved diving for the ball and stuff like that. It was just a fun sport for me to play."
On the goal of playing in college
"Once I started getting college letters when I was 14 that changed everything for me. I had always just thought of it as something fun to do and I didn't really realize I had the potential to do it at the college level. Playing in college was a dream of mine. I would go to college games and watch the girls play and my aunt also played in college so all of that left an impression on me. Playing in college was always in the back of my mind.
"My first big visit was at Baylor. When I saw the big campus and talked with the coaches at camp and they told me I had a good chance at playing in college, that stuck with me. I became more serious about it and from then on I just started working harder to put myself out there and get better as a player."
On the college selection process
"My only criteria was that I didn't want to be in Texas. I didn't want to be too close to home, even though Texas is a big state. It was just to expand my horizons and be on my own at college without relying on my parents being right down the road from me. I had phone visits to any coach that reached out so I wasn't very picky about where I wanted to go."
On entering the transfer portal after her freshman year, transferring to Alabama
"I just wanted to make sure I really spoke with the coaches and got a good understanding of the culture and everything about the program. As soon as I entered the portal, a lot of schools reached out to me and Alabama was one that really stood out. A few big schools reached out and I had taken my visits but when I came here, I really bonded with the coaching staff and it felt like home to me. I loved the campus and the team atmosphere. I had a chance to FaceTime with two of my classmates, Alyiah [Wells] and Katie [Shook], and they gave me a lot of good insight. It really solidified my decision and I felt like this would be a good home for me where I could spend the rest of my college career."
On the quick turnaround from the end of last season to arriving on campus here in the spring semester
"I was definitely a little nervous at first but when I got into the swing of things and met the rest of my new teammates, I knew I made the right decision. It was a good turnaround even though it was quick. It was great for me to come in the spring. I got an understanding of how the team worked, what we did in practice and I got to know everyone really well. It was good to put the work in and see what the team is really about before the rest of the team came in the fall."
On navigating the uncertainty of this season
"There was obviously some nervousness waiting to see what we would do. We just kept working hard. We had already worked so hard to get to where we were. As a team we were really united and never had any doubts about putting in the work and getting ready for the season, even if it wasn't guaranteed to happen. We were well prepared and just came in and worked through it no matter what. We never had a doubt about putting in the work toward the goal of gameday, whenever it might be. We kept the negativity out and kept it positive about working toward our end goal of playing well in competition."
On the NCAA's eligibility ruling and the SEC's hybrid fall/spring schedule
"It was really exciting to get the news that we were playing. Everyone had an extra boost of energy. Now we know who we're actually going to play so we have specific things we can prepare for and we're all putting in the extra reps to get ready. It was a good little kick to push us through to the start of the season."
On adjusting to health and safety protocols at practice
"It was definitely hard at first to practice in the masks. Now it's just second nature. Everyone keeps them on and no one says anything about it because we don't notice it anymore. We're getting more efficient with the cleaning since we've been doing it for a couple months now."
On her goals for the year
"I want to focus on being the best player I can be and reach my potential. I want to be the best teammate I can be as well. As a team, we just want to have a good solid season and work on building our program up and establishing our culture of how we run things at Alabama."
