Aug. 28, 2010

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University volleyball team won't look too different from last season's squad, considering 11 members from 2009's 15-person roster are returning. However, there will be a few new faces on the court this season. Sophomore transfer Lauren Hutchinson is one of them.

This is her story.

The 6-foot-1, Kennesaw, Ga. native started out playing basketball, following the influence of her father who is a die-hard fan of the game. However, at the urging of her mother, she transitioned into volleyball in middle school. She had planned to try out for her school's volleyball team in seventh grade but because she was so shy, she ended up putting it off for a year.

After backing out of tryouts as a seventh grader, Hutchinson's cousin told her that she could be the girl that every team is afraid of. So in eighth grade, she and a friend banded together, determined to make the team that year. Both made the cut and the rest was history for Hutchinson.

She played all throughout high school and started club volleyball as a high school freshman with A5, the most prestigious club in the Atlanta area. By the time she was a sophomore, she had been contacted by several colleges and eventually committed to the University of Georgia.

"Everything about the school, the perks, the people - I just fell in love with it," Hutchinson said. "And it was so close to home."

When she got to UGA, it was everything she dreamed it would be. She loved the team and how the student-athletes had such a strong bond of friendship, plus there was always something to do. However, as her freshman semester went on, a series of circumstances had Hutchinson rethinking her decision to come to UGA. Volleyball had lost its luster and she just wasn't having fun anymore.

"At that level, something needs to be keeping you there," Hutchinson said. "I had to put aside the fact that I liked the school and I liked being with my friends, and I had to ask myself was it worth giving up volleyball to stay at UGA or did I want to go somewhere else to play?"

Hutchinson decided that the risk of staying was not worth giving up something she loved when she could go somewhere else and be happy playing and going to school. She received her release from Georgia and began looking at other schools in the South. Samford came on the scene and Hutchinson was sold.

"This is how I pictured college to be," Hutchinson said. "Everything was beautiful. It was fall when I visited, so all the trees were changing. The girls were so nice and were fighting with the coaches to spend time with me."

When the spring semester started at Samford, Hutchinson was officially a Bulldog. She began working out with the team during the spring season and to her surprise, she was having fun!

"We went paintballing in the spring and had a boot camp week," Hutchinson said. "Whatever we did, fun was incorporated. He (Head Coach Derek Schroeder) makes it fun. He knows that if he lets us have fun, we are going to work even harder for him. It's fun and at the same time, you know you have a purpose to be here."

Hutchinson said that she never knew that she could have so much fun playing volleyball, and she couldn't imagine a better person to play for than Schroeder.

"He loves and cares for each one of us, and it's obvious," Hutchinson said. "He lets us be us. He knows how we are as players and how we function, what helps us and what doesn't help us. He plays to our strengths, and he doesn't make us feel bad when we have a weakness in a certain area. He's going to help us fix that, but at the same time, he's going to put us in a position that plays to our strength and in the bigger picture, helps the team succeed.

"He has patience with us, in that he takes time to work on things with us that need work. My arm swing, for example, was a disaster when I came here, but no one had ever taken the time to actually work on it with me before. Dex takes the time to show me what I need to do to fix that."

As much as Hutchinson has enjoyed being a part of the Samford team and growing in her ability as a player, Schroeder has enjoyed just as much watching Hutchinson's confidence and skill develop.

"Lauren's transformation into a volleyball player has been incredible," Schroeder said. "When we first saw her in the gym this spring she struggled to keep up in back row triples, let alone the speed and intensity of our middle blocker system. As we went through the spring and summer, Lauren, her teammates and our staff have built a relationship of respect and commitment. Now this fall, we are seeing her tap into her physical potential and becoming an elite level blocker and attacker!"

Not only has Hutchinson developed into a good player under the instruction of the Samford staff, Schroeder sees the potential for her to contribute heavily in the 2010 season right away and become one of the best to come through Samford.

"Lauren will be relied on heavily this fall," Schroeder said. "She will anchor our first line of defense, and is not only the best blocker on our team but maybe in this conference."

When asked how she would sell Samford to a prospective student or student-athlete, Hutchinson simply said this:

"This is the kind of program that you look at and say you can believe everything they tell you. These people care about you and want you to succeed, on and off the court. Samford is, without a doubt, an exceptional athletic program and volleyball program."

As Hutchinson prepares to enter her first season in a Samford uniform, she knows that, regardless of the outcome of the season, she has found a home for the next three years.