Athlete Feature – Kristy Wieser

1) How old were you when you first started playing volleyball?

I remember playing volleyball for the first time at a fairly young age, I was in a YMCA league. I hated it. It wasn’t until I was around 11 years old when I had watched my older sister play for her club volleyball team that I felt the urge to give it another try.

2) How old were you when you started playing club volleyball?

I was twelve years old (5th grade) when I picked up volleyball again and went to my first club tryout.

3) Who had the biggest impact on your life/who did you look up to when you were younger and why?

When I was younger I looked up to a lot of the Husker volleyball players at that time, like Jordan Larson, Sarah Pavan, and Tracy Stalls.

4) What was your favorite club volleyball season and why?

My favorite club season was my 18’s year. I had actually switched to a new club team with my best friend and setter. We would have typically been described as a team of misfits but we had some good upsets that year. It was the first time in my club volleyball career that we had beat the Northern Lights team for my age group.

5) What is your favorite part about volleyball?

My favorite part about volleyball was getting to travel around the country to play. I was very fortunate to be able to have those experiences and see a lot of different places at a young age.

6) Where did you go to college and why did you choose that university?

Initially, I attended the University of Nebraska Omaha but after a year I transferred to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Once I had decided that UNO wasn’t for me, I began talking to other schools. In talking with head coach, Travis Filar I began to fall in love with UTC. I got to know a few of the girls and they had a very family oriented team culture plus some great leadership amongst their upperclassmen at the time.

7) What position did you play in college?

I primarily played middle but would interchangeably play on the right side as well. I liked being able to run a lot of crossing patterns.

8) What was your most memorable collegiate match and why?

One match that comes to mind is a 3-2 win over Western Carolina University to secure the regular season Southern Conference Championship. However, I think one of the craziest matches was a conference match against East Tennessee State University. We ended up securing the win in the fifth set after being down 14-4…. That’s right, FOUR. A classic comeback story.

9) What was your favorite part of playing volleyball in college?

I might have an unpopular opinion on this but my favorite part of college volleyball was preseason. I loved getting to train without have to worry about school or anything else. Plus a lot of the pre season tournaments entailed getting to travel to new schools outside of our conference. In my time at UTC we got to play teams like Virginia Tech, Creighton, Georgia, Kansas, Ole Miss, and TCU.

10) What was your major and why did you choose it?

I majored in Business Management. I chose this because I wanted to remain in a competitive environment beyond college. I wanted a career field where I’d be able to work up the ranks. Plus, working international has also always piqued my interest and I think being in business is the best way to do that.

11) Throughout your career, how did you handle adversity? Whether that be an injury, playing time, a bad day, or an argument with a teammate?

For the most part I believe I was truly lucky in regards to not having had to deal with any major injuries during my collegiate career. As far as bad days, volleyball actually really helped to take my mind off of whatever was going on. Overall, in handling adversity, my goal was to always remain level headed and not get too worked up about things that I couldn’t control but then to work harder to face those things that I could control head on.

12) What role did your mind play in getting you through the tough times that collegiate sports throw at you?

The mind is a very powerful tool, but it can be your biggest barrier too. I think what I struggled with the most was fear and overcoming it. Not in an overbearing or paralyzing type of way but when I look back I can think of many times that I may have taken the easy way out or avoided certain things out of fear of what would happen. This is something that I still work to overcome.

13) What are you doing now?

Since graduating from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, I continued on to play my fifth year of eligibility in beach volleyball at Texas Christian University while I continued my education and graduated this past Spring with my Masters of Business Administration. Currently, I am working as an analyst in supply chain at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.

14) How did playing volleyball prepare you for life after sports?

I think the biggest lesson volleyball taught me was how to work with others for a common goal. You have a lot of different personalities and players from all over and none of that mattered on the court. I’m a big proponent for teamwork.

15) If you could give advice to your younger self, what would it be?

The advice I’d give my younger self is to just go for it. Don’t overthink things or try to plan too much.

Collegiate Athletic and Academic Accomplishments:

Senior (2016)
– Named to the All-Southern Conference First Team
– Appeared in all 118 sets…started in all 32 matches.
– Led team with 368.5 points.
– Led team with 323 kills…2.74 kills per set average.
– Team-best 16 matches with double-digit kills.
– Second-best .284 attack percentage.
– Season-high 19 kills in win over ETSU.
– Registered her 1,000th career collegiate kill in loss to WCU.
– Third on team with 71.0 total blocks.
– Named Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 26 – Oct. 3).
– Named to Chattanooga Classic All-Tournament Team.
– Named to Preseason All-Southern Conference Team.

Junior (2015)
– Named to the All-Southern Conference First Team.
– Started in all 32 matches…one of two Mocs to play in every set.
– Team-high .369 attack percentage ranked 49th in NCAA…14 matches with .400 or higher.
– 66 blocks (15 solo/51 assists) was third on the squad…high of eight against Valparaiso (3 solo/5 assists).
– 321 kills ranked second on the Mocs…averaged 2.65 kills per set.
– Named to the Chattanooga Classic All-Tournament squad.
– Made the Dean’s List and Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in the spring.

Sophomore (2014)
– Athletics Director’s Honor Roll.
– Started all 32 matches playing 118 sets.
– All-Tournament at Chattanooga Classic and UGA Bulldog Invitational.
– Team-high 296 kills posting 2.51 per set…10 or more in match 14 times…18 at home against Mercer was her best ahead of 17 against College of Charleston…finished with a .232 attack percentage.
– Team-best 350.5 points…10 or more on 18 occasions…20 at home against Mercer was top number.
– Second to Catherine Chason with 245 digs…three matches with 20 or more with a high of 23 at Houston Baptist.
– 58 blocks ranked third on the squad…high of seven (all assists) in SoCon Tourney vs. Samford.
– Fourth on the team with 22 aces… five multi-ace matches with four against South Carolina State serving as best.

Freshman (2013 – Nebraska-Omaha)
– Appeared in 84 sets in 24 matches.  Started 20.
– Averaged 1.45 kills per set and 1.93 digs per set.
– Recorded a season-high 10 kills in a 3-0 win over Stetson.
– Posted a season-high 18 digs against South Dakota State.