Andi Kreiling didn’t know that she wanted to play volleyball collegiately until her freshman year at Kearney High School in Kearney, Missouri. But when offers from Division I schools started coming her way, her focus shifted.
“All of a sudden, I got my first card from playing at a tournament with K.C. Power and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this might be possible for me to play at the college level, like at the D1 level,'” Kreiling said.
When she was a sophomore in high school, ASU reached out to her. After many emails and constant phone calls with associate head coach Carlos Moreno, Kreiling committed verbally to ASU on April 30, 2019.
Kreiling is grateful that she gets to join ASU volleyball and looks forward to helping head coach Sanja Tomasevic win a Pac-12 title.
“I am really excited to play for them and I really want to take their program far too,” Kreiling said. “I am hoping to be an All-American and our team gets into the Sweet 16, at least.”
Kreiling’s recruiting process was long and involved many trips to different universities across the country with her mother.
She visited West Virginia University, Duke University and Wake Forest University to participate in camps during her freshman year. She received an offer from Creighton University and had interest from Loyola Marymount University, but knew she wanted to go to ASU.
"It was a pretty close decision between ASU and LMU, but I knew I wanted ASU when the coaches offered me and made it known that they wanted me here," she said. "The fact that (the coaching staff has) connections (to the professional ranks), because I do want to play professionally, helps as well."
She had her visit with ASU her sophomore year, visiting campus for multiple days and even tried on an ASU jersey, saying she was "wonderstruck" by the experience.
Kreiling was ready to be a starting middle blocker for the next four years for the Sun Devils, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed that.
After an ASU senior middle blocker decided to exercise her extra year of eligibility next year given by the NCAA, Kreiling will redshirt in 2021 and wait to play in 2022.
She hopes to major in biological engineering and is interested in other medical fields, like her parents. Her parents work in a pediatric hospital in downtown Kansas City.
Not only does Kreiling play volleyball, but she also swam when she was younger for the Tsunami Swim Team of Kansas City and Kearney High School.
“I definitely want to stick to volleyball in college, but I like that swim keeps me in shape,” Kreiling said. “Swim is a very individual sport so all the pressure is on you all the time, and I like that with volleyball, there are other teammates that can help you out and pick you back up.”
Kreiling’s past teammates have described her as determined on and off the court, but also as a fun and goofy personality that lifts the team in times of need.
“Having an outgoing and positive attitude is going to help Andi go so far in life, especially playing volleyball at ASU,” Brooke Stonestreet, Kansas City Power teammate and Iowa State University commit, said.
Kansas City Power teammate and Kansas State University volleyball commit Jaden Ravnsborg echoed a similar sentiment.
“She is the biggest goofball and comedian out there," Ravnsborg said. "She is just so silly and can put a smile on anyone’s face.”
Kreiling looks up to ASU sophomore middle blocker Kennedi Boyd because of their similar personalities and willingness to work hard to achieve a goal.
"She's really goofy and fun just like me and she seems like a great person," Kreiling said. "She's a really good middle blocker and just watching her play is insane."
Even though she will be supporting them from the sideline next season, Kreiling has fulfilled her goal of becoming a Sun Devil and is looking forward to beginning her journey by bringing her personality and skill to the court.
Reach the reporters lhertz@asu.edu and oliviaeisenhauersports@gmail.com and follow @laurenrachell_ and @o_eisenhauer on Twitter.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on Twitter.
