Mallory Woolridge (right) fine-tunes her game with the likes of Jennifer Mallard (left), a former Mills Godwin standout and UNC Wilmington signee.
by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
slewis@digitalsports.com
Three years ago, playing volleyball at the highest collegiate level was the last thing on
Mallory Woolridge's mind.
"I thought I was just going to do it as recreation," Woolridge said. "Then I fell in love with it."
She's fell in love and in a way, Woolridge just got engaged to the sport, committing to defending national champion Penn State recently.
The 6-2 middle who can touch the 10-foot, six-inch mark (six inches over a regulation basketball rim) will get a five-year full scholarship, a rare occurrence in volleyball.
"It's definitely an honor," Woolridge said. "It's awesome. I don't know how to put it into words."
PSU seems to be combing the Central Region of the best lady volleyball players, as Woolridge will join Hanover star
Kristin Carpenter, who is a 2009 Penn State recruit.
Now Woolridge joins the fold, though it looked as though volleyball would be the last thing she would do in college.
"I didn't think I was ever going to be good," Woolridge said. "I was awful."
Three years of club ball and two years with state Group AAA champion Deep Run later, Woolridge was a hot commodity.
Any school who was any good was wondering how to get Woolridge on its campus.
Coaches even flew in from different corners of the United States just to see Woolridge practice, including renowned Florida coach
Mary Wise.
Wise nabbed the top-ranked recruiting class for the upcoming season in the nation, according to PrepVolleyball.com, but didn't get Woolridge. She was a Nittany Lion through and through.
"I didn't know anything about the school," Woolridge said of PSU. "I visited during the region final. After that visit I fell in love with it. I went up for another visit to hang out with the girls. It was awesome. I didn't want to leave. That was just where I wanted to be.
"Even if I didn't want to play volleyball, I would want to go there. [At tournaments] so many colleges were watching. I didn't care until I saw Penn State. I just got so excited. It was definitely flattering."