Before this year, it didn’t seem like Riley Blevins would be playing college volleyball.

After a career season, the North Callaway senior made it official on Tuesday with a signing ceremony at the high school that she will play at William Woods University in Fulton. Blevins is a three-time all-Eastern Missouri Conference player that set the program digs record for a match and season at 44 and 438, respectively, beating the 30 and 330 digs set by Nicole Emmons five years ago. 

Blevins is preparing for basketball season and goes in as a multiple time all-conference player for the Ladybirds. When she started in volleyball as a freshman at Mexico, she wanted to help herself in the winter.

“I wanted to play a sport that helped me with basketball, but then I started to really like it and decided to keep playing,” Blevins said. “I thought I owed it to myself to continue to play in college.”

Andrew Klein is going into his first season as the girls basketball head coach but has coached Blevins in all three of her North Callaway volleyball years. She is his first college signee, and it is easy for him and assistant Rachel Boulware to see why.

“We always talk about her instincts as an athlete,” Klein said. “She wasn’t always just a volleyball player. I could tell she had grown up around a lot of athletic people. She’s certainly been around a fast pace of athletics and her instincts and her nose for the ball is something to be proud of as a player. You can’t teach instincts.”

In Blevins’ family, her father and the North Callaway High School principal, Travis, played Division I football at Southeast Missouri State University; her mother, Nicky, played Division I softball at the University of Missouri; and her sister, Klein’s assistant basketball coach and former Lady Bulldog, Logan, played softball at Division II Truman State University.

Blevins said she started in the front row in her freshman year and was “very limited” due to a lack of experience but then began playing more back row, gaining experience setting and then defending as a libero. She said she expects to be a defender at William Woods and will be happy in that role with the program.

“While playing at William Woods, I hope to grow by learning more of the game and becoming a strong defensive specialist,” Blevins said. “I ultimately chose to sign with William Woods because it is very close to home and I loved the girls and coach Cook.”

Klein believes William Woods head coach Kandace Cook can only help Blevins because she already has great potential as someone who is coachable and performed well against bigger schools this season, such as the Ladybirds’ run in the Fulton Tournament. Cook is also the head coach at Calvary Lutheran.

North Callaway played a “beefed up” schedule this year because its wins have increased every year and has played Calvary Lutheran six times during Blevins’ time at North Callaway. Klein said this season is when Cook took notice of Blevins.

“We played in the Calvary Lutheran Tournament this year and beat Calvary (in a separate match),” Klein said. “They hit it off. Riley was invited to a practice not too long ago, she got a good scholarship and I’m excited for her.”