As the year progresses, seniors’ stress is building about the next steps they will take after graduation. They must actively work to complete applications to the best of their abilities and work with high stakes and strict deadlines while making major decisions about their futures, while also worrying about how to pay rising tuition at most universities.

A few fortunate individuals are free from the stress that senior year brings, as they already know where they are headed after high school. Senior Trinity Corney is one such student, who was offered a scholarship to the University of Wyoming for her achievements in volleyball and signed with them on Nov. 13.

Her signing is the culmination of a life of loving volleyball. Corney has been playing volleyball for roughly 12 years and has been on the Collins team all four years of high school.

“I just love the experience, the thrill of scoring, even being competitive because I’m a very competitive person. I love that I’ve learned to push myself harder because volleyball needs endurance and I love how fast-paced it is,” Corney said. “I feel like a lot of people play sports just to play sports. I play volleyball because it genuinely makes me happy and I think it’s super fun and interesting.”

Corney’s story of recruitment is not the typical narrative. Players often videos of them playing to the colleges that they are interested in attending, or representatives attend games to scout potential players. This form of volleyball recruitment usually happens during a players’ sophomore year, but Corney was unable to play during her sophomore year for the entirety of her school and club volleyball seasons due to an injury.

She thought she had missed her opportunity until she attended a volleyball camp at the University of Wyoming along with the rest of the Collins team. The coaches there were able to see her playing on the court in raw form and fresh from an injury; they were intrigued and instantly reached out to her.

“Right when I left the camp within an hour, they emailed me,” she said. “They kept in contact with me all through the high school season. Later they gave me a call and told me that they would like to offer me a scholarship, but they wanted me to come to their campus for an official visit.”

Corney visited the University of Wyoming’s campus and loved it. She wanted something that was close to her family but also a new experience, which was exactly what Wyoming presented her. The team, including the players and the coaches, were also very caring and made her feel at home.

“It felt more like family than an intense volleyball atmosphere,” Corney said. “The girls were already so kind to me. They all gave m e their phone numbers and w e r e so nice and friendly and treated me like I was already on the team. They didn’t even ask me about volleyball. They asked me about my personal life.”

Corney was offered a full ride scholarship to the University of Wyoming. Her dorm, classes, and materials are all paid for. She is on an “additional scholarship” which means that in addition to a full ride, she is also given a sum of money to spend on whatever she would like.

Corney is excited to be able to play for new coaches and with new teammates. She is also elated she will be playing close to home and her family will be able to come watch her.

“My grandma loves to watch me play,” she said. “She only got to watch her [my mom] play once and she never got to watch the rest of her daughters play. Making sure that she’ll be able to watch me is super important to me,” Corney said. “I want my family to be able to come watch me. That was one of the biggest factors for me.”

Her insurmountable passion, whether referring to family or athletics, has fueled the diligent work that has earned Corney this scholarship. She now has the comfort of knowing what is next for her after high school, and in the process gets to continue a lifelong interest.