What started out as a bit of a joke between Alaina Wolff and her coach turned into a unique opportunity to play again in the gym where she excelled for Jackson County Central in two sports.
Wolff is a 5-foot-6 freshman libero for the Wildcats. A conversation between Alaina and WSC coach Scott Kneifl led to a perfect solution in scheduling a scrimmage with Concordia University-St. Paul.
"We were looking for a place to scrimmage Concordia," Wolff said. "I just kind of jokingly said to my coach, 'hey, is Jackson halfway? And it is, it's exactly in the middle. So we contacted Deidre (JCC head coach Deidre Wierson), got it set up and it just worked perfectly."
Wolff's first season at WSC was canceled due to the pandemic so Saturday was the first time Wolff competed against another school for the Wildcats.
"My freshman year we didn't have anything and not to have my first official scrimmage at home is a really special feeling," she said. And to have my teammates and my family come watch, it's so awesome.
"It was a great environment," Wolff said of being back the JCC gym. "I so thankful for the fans that came out, the parents and the volleyball team. It was really special for me."
Wayne State was tied for fifth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference coaches' preseason poll and was 24th in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II preseason ratings. The Wildcats scrimmaged with a Golden Bears team that was picked first by the NSIC coaches for the 16th time in 17 years and is rated second nationally.
"We have some high goals this year," said Wolff, who did take the libero jersey off in one set during Saturday's scrimmage. "We're a really young team. We have a lot of progress to make, but we've made a lot of progress already in the preseason. I'm really excited to see what this team can do. I'm just so pumped for the season."
Wayne State opens the regular season next weekend in Texas, playing four matches at the Dallas Baptist tournament. The Wildcats play Westminster (Utah) and the host school Friday and then face Arkansas Tech and Eastern New Mexico Saturday.
Then it's off to the prestigious Colorado Premier tournament in Denver that attracts most of the top Division II teams in the country Sept. 10-11.
Wayne State opens its NSIC schedule in Minnesota on Sept. 17 and 18 at Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State.
Later in the season, Wayne will be in Mankato to play Minnesota State on Saturday, Oct. 16 and in Marshall to face Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, Oct. 30. The Wildcats are also at the University of Sioux Falls on Tuesday, Nov. 2.