Cary-Grove's Heredia chooses Jacksonville State

First impressions last.

Cary-Grove senior setter Abbey Heredia was heading into her junior year of high school when college volleyball programs first took interest in her. She made several visits over the next year but, in the end, committed Tuesday to the school where she made her initial visit last fall: Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Ala.

A record-breaking setter at Cary-Grove, Heredia will play for coach Rick Nold's Gamecocks, who compete in the Ohio Valley Conference.

"I loved it from the first time I was there," said Heredia, who received a full-ride scholarship. "I fell in love with the coaches, the campus, the team and everything, but I wasn't ready to rule any of the other schools out so I waited. I didn't have a deadline, so I took my time and made sure that was the school I liked the most. I liked some of the other schools, too, but Jacksonville kept coming up in my mind. I really fell in love with it."

Heredia, a member of the National Honor Society with a 3.7 grade-point average, chose Jacksonville State over second choice Murray State. She also turned down offers from Georgia State and Tennessee-Martin. She plans to study sports medicine.

A four-year starting setter for Cary-Grove, Heredia holds the top two records in program history for assists, an impressive feat at a school that currently boasts three setting alumnae playing Division-I volleyball. As a sophomore she finished with 938 assists to set a new single-season record. Late last season Heredia broke the school record for career assists, finishing her junior year with 2,669, a mark she adds to with every match as a senior.

Heredia's value to the Trojans transcends her statistics, however.

"She's a role model to so many of the younger players in our program," Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis said. "Abbey really reaches out to everybody, freshman through juniors, and always tries to help them with their game. She's someone I know the team looks up to and admires deeply. We have a junior setter already committed to Indiana, Colleen Smith, who looks up to Abbey and tries to learn something from her every day. I think that says something special about what kind of character Abbey has."