Rylee Horstman has left North Callaway volleyball in a better state than when she found it.

The senior signed to play for Westminster College in Fulton during a Dec. 5 ceremony in the North Callaway High School gym following an all-conference and all-district season for the Eastern Missouri Conference champion Ladybirds. Horstman has three all-conference honors and the school records for 718 career aces and 138 career aces. 

Horstman wants to study biochemistry to go on the pre-med track to become an orthodontist. She also wants to go play for head coach Dalton Tucker, who has led the Blue Jays to four straight winning seasons, including 28 victories in 2025.

“I really like the coach, and I’ve been talking to him when I see him at club practices,” Horstman said. “He seems like a great coach, and I’ve talked to the girls so it will be a good opportunity.” 

North Callaway has been trending upward over the last four years, too. In Horstman’s freshman season, the Ladybirds earned double-digit victories for the first time in school history and their winning percentages went up from there to their first non-losing season in Horstman’s junior year. As a senior, it was the program’s first winning season and first conference title as the Ladybirds finished in a three-way tie atop the Eastern Missouri Conference. 

Head coach Andrew Klein has been on the sidelines during this turnaround and said Horstman has been a key piece during the best stretch in program history. Klein has known Horstman since eighth grade and said she could hold her own against varsity competition even then during open gyms.

“She’s a heck of an athlete and holds many records here at North Callaway for kills and aces and career and season records,” Klein said. “She’s an awesome player and an even better person. She’s a great leader and brought a level of intensity this program hasn’t seen in a while.”

Klein said Horstman has been a core player ever since she was a freshman, and that is due to her consistency. Still, he said she gradually improved to where she was playing her best volleyball at the end of this past season.

“It’s a lot of her mentality and her being a captain this year,” Klein said. “She really grew as a vocal leader this year. Sometimes, she can be a little reserved. This year on the court, you wouldn’t have thought that. That’s what our team needed to be successful.”

Horstman said she was happy she had the chance to lead the program during recent years and loved being able to help younger girls. When Horstman was younger, she said she picked up the sport in seventh grade because her mother played and her father pushed her to keep practicing. 

“I play club every season after the school year gets done,” Horstman said. “It keeps me going, and it’s a great sport.”

Horstman could do a variety of things on the court. Along with being North Callaway’s best attacker, she was also one of its best servers and defenders. She ranked third on the team in aces and second in digs. 

“It’s really hard to point one thing out,” Klein said. “She does hold the career kills and aces record, but she’s third in digs so she’s a heck of a passer along with all of those offensive things.”

As an outside hitter, Horstman said she not only has to know how to hit but also play in the back row. She has tried to “focus on everything and not just specifically one thing” to be a good all-around player. 

“The most important thing is to keep going,” Horstman said. “Even whenever there’s no practice or there are times when things get cancelled, still go to the gym and still work on being able to play every position.”