Big decisions can be made in little places. For 2011 USF Hall of Fame inductee
Michelle Collier, a realization in the town of Holdrege, Neb., led to her to USF.
Unfortunately, it was the wrong USF, but more on that in a bit.
"I was an exchange student my junior year in high school," Collier said. "I lived in a little town in Nebraska with an American family. I played for a small club volleyball team."
It was there Collier got a glimpse of the recruiting process for the first time.
"I didn't know what to do. It was overwhelming. But I knew I wanted to come to the U.S. and study after the exchange program," she said.
Collier then returned to Brazil to complete her senior year of high school with a new determination to play college volleyball in America.
Almost immediately, USF came calling.
The University of San Francisco.
"I was pretty much all set to go there. Then they got a new head coach and I was told they no longer needed an outside hitter," Collier said.
Shortly afterward, a phone call changed everything.
Paula Araujo, a native of Collier's hometown in Brazil, was playing for the Bulls at that time and said the magic words: "There is a place for you here."
"I said I'd love to come to Florida," laughs Collier. "I think it was destiny. It just worked out. I couldn't have had the experiences I had here anywhere else in the world. I was so fortunate to end up in Tampa."
And the Bulls were fortunate to have her. Collier played from 1998 to 2002 and remains the program's all-time leader in kills and digs. With margins of nearly 1,000 kills more than any other player and nearly 300 digs more than any other player, the name at the top of those lists isn't going to change for quite awhile.
Current volleyball head coach Claire Lessinger was an assistant coach on the USF staff during Collier's tenure.
"In your lifetime of coaching, your hope to coach a player like her," Lessinger said. "Players like that don't come around very often. To watch her on the court was jaw dropping. She was so gifted. But it was her passion and emotion that was a standard that was set every day."
In her time at USF, the Bulls won two regular season Conference USA championships and a Conference USA Tournament title. They played in the NCAA Tournament in 2000 and 2002.
"She knew she had the skills and she played with such confidence, but everyday she knew she could get better," Lessinger said. "That's a special trait to have for someone who had the skills that she had."
Collier's combination of skill and dedication led her to being the Conference USA Player of the Year in 2000 and 2002. She was a member of the Conference USA first team in each of her four active seasons.
"She was a leader on and off the court because of her hard working approach to volleyball," said Ale Domingos, a teammate in 2001 and 2002. "She was an extremely dedicated and talented athlete. People looked up to her."
Despite a career of on court domination, her teammates and coaches remember a humble and caring teammate.
"She made everyone comfortable around her," recalls Kaitiane Bleeker. "She was so easy going. She was just one of the players. She never acted like she knew how good she was on the court. That made her even more special."
In addition to the Conference USA honors, Collier was on the AVCA All-Region district team four times.
Later this month, she will be honored as the first USF volleyball member of the Hall of Fame.
"I played with so many good people," Collier said. "This surprised me. To be honored by the USF family is wonderful. I'm very honored to be a part of this."
For Claire Lessinger, who later had Collier on her staff as an assistant coach, the choice was an easy one.
"There wasn't a player that played with Michelle or a coach that coached Michelle that didn't have the utmost respect for her," she said.
On Nov. 18th, Michelle Collier will join Anthony Henry, Bob Grindey, Radenko Dobras, Fergus Hopper and Monica Triner in the third USF Athletics Hall of Fame class.
GO BULLS!
