12/10/14 • By Kyle Cummings / kcummings@columbustelegram.com
COLUMBUS -- Columbus High senior Alyssa Thege can credit much of her volleyball development to older sister, Hillary.
Thege will have one more year to hone her volleyball skills under her sister after she signed her letter of intent Wednesday at Columbus High School to play volleyball at Central Community College.
"I'm glad that I get to further my volleyball career," Alyssa Thege said. "It's really been a passion for me. I really didn't want to stop at high school, so I'm glad I get to play at the next level and expand my learning and play at a high level. I think that'll be a lot of fun."
It will be the first time siblings played together under Central head coach Mary Young during her tenure with the Raiders.
Young knows how siblings can be around each other. She has two kids, herself.
"I have two children at home, I know how two (siblings) behave and we really talked about that -- talked about that with each of them," Young said. "It was, 'These are our expectations that you're teammates. You're always going to be sisters, but you're going to be teammates here with us. These are our expectations,' and they both bought in."
But there was never any hesitation to move forward with the signing. More than likely, Young also knows the connection siblings have with each other, too.
Alyssa and Hillary certainly have that strong bond on the court, as they played together at Columbus High for two years before Hillary graduated.
"We got to grow together as teammates on the court for two years," Alyssa Thege said. "It was a lot of fun to play together. Off the court, we could talk to each other about how well we played or what we could have done better. It was fun to watch her play the position, too, so I could critique myself compared to her."
That sister development helped mold Alyssa into a standout defensive player for the Discoverers, including a record-breaking match last season.
Late in the year, Columbus High defeated Hastings 25-27, 26-24, 25-19 to take third place in the Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference tournament.
In the third place match, Thege recorded 46 digs -- a Columbus High record for a three-set match.
"I went through, I watched the film and I re-stated everything," Columbus High head coach Heidi Field said. "I couldn't believe it. She was the leader and was saying, 'I'm not letting this ball hit the floor.' She was everywhere -- getting to balls that I didn't think should be hers. I think that really showed she was ready to take the next step."
That defensive spark was exactly what Young was looking for.
Losing defensive specialists Molly Gotschall and Shayla Trotter, setters Brooke Robertson and Cassidy Yong and outside hitter Skyler Erickson -- all who played plenty in the back row -- had finding defensive players a priority for Young.
While Young had her eye on Thege for a while, she also had a number of players she was interested in.
But Thege always stood above the rest.
"We just kept coming back to her," Young said. "We said, 'You know what? She's non-risk. She's going to work hard the entire time and she's gritty and that is exactly what we wanted.'"
And Central was exactly what Thege wanted, too.
It's close to home, it fits her academic needs and, of course, offers her the opportunity to play with family.
"I took a visit to Central and really like the campus," Thege said. "I thought it would be a good fit. To play with my sister again at CCC is a good fit, especially since it's close to home."