Thanks to the Bobcat Club, Montana State Volleyball Standout is Realizing Dream of Helping Others
9/5/2018 5:19:00 PM | General
Our Story: Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, we will tell the stories of Montana State student-athletes and how scholarships funded by the Bobcat Club have impacted their lives. We hope you enjoy meeting our student-athletes on msubobcats.com, Facebook and Instagram as they tell their story, because their story is #OurStory.
As a high schooler, Montana State volleyball standout Allyssa Rizzo looked forward to Thursday and Friday nights with unbridled anticipation.
A self-admitted fan of Grey's Anatomy, the Crestwood, Ill., product, hunkered down on Thursday nights watching Dr. Meredith Grey navigate the halls of Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital. The nationally acclaimed show helped foster Rizzo's passion to pursue a degree in nursing and her desire to help people, especially at their most vulnerable moments.
"I think the whole opportunity of nursing just screamed my name," Rizzo said. "I want to make a difference and I want to be there for people when they're at their most uncomfortable state."
On Friday nights, Rizzo hunkered down again in front of a screen. But this time, it was a computer. Instead of doing usual high school Friday night shenanigans, the 5-6 libero spent the evening sending emails to college coaches who indicated they would be in attendance at tournaments in which she was playing. And, to schools that had the right size, the right program and nursing.
"I actually reached out to Montana State," Rizzo laughed. "
They didn't find me. They were coming to one of my tournaments- one of the qualifiers when I was a junior- eventually Daniel (Jones) gave me a call and said he was interested and the rest is history."
Rizzo made her recruiting trip to Bozeman and immediately fell in love with the program, school and community. "It was like nowhere I've ever been," she commented.
Fast forward three years and Rizzo sits atop the Big Sky Conference statistics in digs. A three-year starter, she is closing in on the 1,000-Dig Club, a milestone held by just eight Bobcats. In addition, Rizzo will make a charge at the Montana State school-record of 1,720 as a senior.
Off the court, she has made big strides within the MSU College of Nursing.
It is an arduous task juggling athletics and academics. Fortunately for Rizzo and others, the Department of Athletics and the College of Nursing have forged a healthy relationship over the past few years to accommodate the constraints placed on student-athletes and to keep their academic goals on track.
"Everyone's been amazing," Rizzo said. "I couldn't do it without them. Scheduling is really important. I'm really growing as an individual. I'm finding that I need to communicate and I'm finding I'm becoming an adult and I have to take things by the reins. The years to come are going to be pretty tricky. We have arranged it so I only have to go through one season where clinicals are really intense. Next fall is going to be a lot more of a challenge."
Rizzo is the first to take on challenges. And, she is the first to acknowledge that all of her accomplishments wouldn't be possible without the support of her coaches, professors, family, friends and the scholarship made possible by the Bobcat Club.
"For me, being on scholarship means the world," Rizzo commented. "It means the world to my family as well. I'm so close to my family, and for my mom and dad, it just helps take the burden off things and its set me up for success. Being on scholarship makes me realize it's not just about me. It reminds that I'm helping my parents out, and that I'm playing for something that is bigger than myself.
"The Bobcat Club supporting me in that way gives me that opportunity and perspective, and that's really cool."
A self-admitted fan of Grey's Anatomy, the Crestwood, Ill., product, hunkered down on Thursday nights watching Dr. Meredith Grey navigate the halls of Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital. The nationally acclaimed show helped foster Rizzo's passion to pursue a degree in nursing and her desire to help people, especially at their most vulnerable moments.
"I think the whole opportunity of nursing just screamed my name," Rizzo said. "I want to make a difference and I want to be there for people when they're at their most uncomfortable state."
On Friday nights, Rizzo hunkered down again in front of a screen. But this time, it was a computer. Instead of doing usual high school Friday night shenanigans, the 5-6 libero spent the evening sending emails to college coaches who indicated they would be in attendance at tournaments in which she was playing. And, to schools that had the right size, the right program and nursing.
"I actually reached out to Montana State," Rizzo laughed. "
They didn't find me. They were coming to one of my tournaments- one of the qualifiers when I was a junior- eventually Daniel (Jones) gave me a call and said he was interested and the rest is history."Rizzo made her recruiting trip to Bozeman and immediately fell in love with the program, school and community. "It was like nowhere I've ever been," she commented.
Fast forward three years and Rizzo sits atop the Big Sky Conference statistics in digs. A three-year starter, she is closing in on the 1,000-Dig Club, a milestone held by just eight Bobcats. In addition, Rizzo will make a charge at the Montana State school-record of 1,720 as a senior.
Off the court, she has made big strides within the MSU College of Nursing.
It is an arduous task juggling athletics and academics. Fortunately for Rizzo and others, the Department of Athletics and the College of Nursing have forged a healthy relationship over the past few years to accommodate the constraints placed on student-athletes and to keep their academic goals on track.
"Everyone's been amazing," Rizzo said. "I couldn't do it without them. Scheduling is really important. I'm really growing as an individual. I'm finding that I need to communicate and I'm finding I'm becoming an adult and I have to take things by the reins. The years to come are going to be pretty tricky. We have arranged it so I only have to go through one season where clinicals are really intense. Next fall is going to be a lot more of a challenge."
Rizzo is the first to take on challenges. And, she is the first to acknowledge that all of her accomplishments wouldn't be possible without the support of her coaches, professors, family, friends and the scholarship made possible by the Bobcat Club.
"For me, being on scholarship means the world," Rizzo commented. "It means the world to my family as well. I'm so close to my family, and for my mom and dad, it just helps take the burden off things and its set me up for success. Being on scholarship makes me realize it's not just about me. It reminds that I'm helping my parents out, and that I'm playing for something that is bigger than myself.
"The Bobcat Club supporting me in that way gives me that opportunity and perspective, and that's really cool."
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