Calming herself with a deep breath, senior setter Natalie Erikson prepares to serve the ball hurtling over the net. After this season, Erikson plans to continue her volleyball career on the court and on the sand at Berry College in Rome, Georgia.
Erikson originally started playing volleyball in fifth grade. Before this, Erikson played field hockey.
“I wasn’t one of those people who kind of grew up playing sports my whole life,” Erikson said. “I didn’t really play any sports until fifth grade.”
Erikson credits her mom with inspiring her to play volleyball. Knowing that her mom played volleyball, Erikson gave it a try.
“I tried volleyball because my mom had played volleyball,” Erikson said. “So it was just kind of one of those things where I knew my mom had done it, so I was ‘I’ll try’ and she signed me up for a local league.”
Now older, Erikson is the one bringing the experience to the court. Erikson’s teammate, junior Valeria Feeney, describes the impact that Erikson has on the court and players.
“Natalie impacts the team with her words of wisdom from an older and experienced player,” Feeney said. “She brings kindness and experience to the team.”
As Erikson’s volleyball career kept progressing, she received an offer to Berry College, a Division Three school. She got the chance to visit, and she loved it.
“In March I went on my first visit to Berry,” Erikson said. “I had so much fun, and I was originally supposed to have a meeting with the coaches at the end of my visit, but my flight got in late.”
Due to Erikson’s flight difficulties, she went back later that year to finally commit to Berry. After getting a second offer from another school, Erikson made the decision that Berry was the best option for her. She decided after getting her second offer from another school.
“I waited to actually commit in person, so I got to commit with all three coaches in the room with me,” Erikson said. “It made it a way cooler experience because I got to experience it with the coaches.”
When Erikson committed to Berry she was surrounded by a couple of her teammates. She got to tell them that she made her decision at the very moment she had committed to Berry College.
“Two of my other teammates, who were my age, were there that week because it was a camp when I committed,” Erikson said. “So I got to be like, hey guys, I know y’all are already committed, but I’m about to commit.”
Erikson didn’t always know she wanted to commit to Berry. She had very specific guidelines she wanted her school to have, including the location.
“I knew I wanted to be in the state of Georgia. So, I really looked in the southeast area, because I knew that’s where I wanted to be,” Erikson said. “It took my realization with another school to realize what a unique opportunity Berry was for me.”
Now being committed, Erikson has to start acclimating to the team and the training style. She knows it’ll be a lot different than high school practice and training.
“I’m already so nervous. My coaches reached out and sent me the current challenge,” Erikson said. “You have to pass each school’s challenge to be eligible for the season. I was just talking to one of the freshmen there about these challenges, it’s a whole different level of conditioning.”
Before she can go off to college, Erikson still has to finish her senior year. Head volleyball coach at Bowie, Danna Wincher, has commented on Erikson’s improvements and successes so far this season.
“Natalie has done very well this season,” Wincher said. “She has improved tremendously on her footwork and being able to read the ball better in defense. I think Natalie’s court presence and calmness are a huge contributing factor for the team. Natalie always works hard on and off the court.”
During Erikson’s journey to achieve her goal of going to college, she shares some valuable insight on how her experience was different from others. For example, some athletes use the website Next College Student Athlete (NCSA) for recruitment help.
“Lots of people have a lot of help with the recruiting process, but I did mine all by myself,” Erikson said. “I had people who were supposed to help me but didn’t. So for me, I really was my own advocate.”
Having experienced firsthand the intense process of becoming a collegiate athlete, Erikson understands the work ethic and confidence required to commit to college.
“It wasn’t the day that I first stepped on campus that I knew I was getting an offer,” Erikson said. “Just trust your gut and know that eventually one day you’ll realize what’s going to work for you. I really believe that if you take your time and you listen to yourself and you do the research for what you want, you’re gonna get there.”
