When Kryssi Daniels was given the opportunity to play on the University of Alabama volleyball team, she jumped on it.
The sophomore libero said she’s an Alabama fan through and through. She was born and raised in the state, and the University was always her first choice.
It wasn’t a done deal at the beginning, however. She was committed to Middle Tennessee State University until Ed Allen became the head coach at Alabama. After watching her play, he offered her a spot – just not at libero.
“Really, I didn’t choose [libero],” Daniels said. “I came in the spring of 2012 just wanting to find a spot to play. I didn’t care what that was. If that was setter, I’d do it. That was my mentality so I wouldn’t really say I chose it. I guess it kind of chose me, but that’s how I got a spot on the floor so I don’t really care what it is, I just work. I do what the coach tells me. Whatever he tells me, I do.”
It’s that work ethic that has impressed her teammates the most.
“On the court, I’d say she’s one of the most hardworking people on the team,” setter Sierra Wilson said. “There’s something called battle buddies. It’s like your war buddy. You know that person’s got your back if you’re ever in a war or something, and I call Kryssi my battle buddy because our positions are pretty similar. I run the offense, and one of her responsibilities is to kind of direct the defense as a libero so there has to be a lot of communication between us and a lot of trust, and I do trust Kryssi implicitly.”
Daniels has earned nine straight starts at libero. On the season, she leads the team with 178 digs in 55 sets and averages 3.24 digs per set.
“She’s a bulldog competitor that has great ball control and is getting stronger as a competitor every week,” Allen said. “Her second year, we really expect she’s going to be a kid that we’re going to be able to lean on in the coming two years, just super competitive, learning to master herself as much as anything else.”
Daniels and the team will be put to the test in the coming week as Alabama plays Auburn wednesday night and host No. 3 Florida Sunday in Tuscaloosa.
“The way I look at it, someone said Saturday when we were tailgating, we have nothing to lose, and we really don’t so there’s nothing to really – when I say nothing to worry about we do need to worry about how we play – but there’s nothing to be afraid of because we’re not losing anything,” Daniels said. “There’s nothing for us to lose but everything to gain.”
