When Krissy Mummey ’18 was in the seventh grade, she decided to look for a sport that would set her apart from her older sister who was a college basketball player. “Basketball was my sister’s thing,” says Mummey. “I was looking for something different, so I chose volleyball because I wanted to be good at something that she wasn’t.”
Allison Beckman was also in the seventh grade when she found out that she was not going to play recreational league basketball that year: “I was actually forced to play volleyball. My mom signed me up for volleyball rec league – and I cried.”
Despite entering into the game at a relatively late age, both Beckman and Mummey quickly mastered the sport. Both players had the drive and talent to succeed and make a name for themselves in their high school volleyball programs. Mummey was named to the First Team All-District and All-State Honorable Mention at her high school in Hudson, Ohio. Beckman was named first team all-conference and selected to The News and Observer’s All-Metro Team at Apex High School in Wake County, N.C.
After high school graduation, they brought their talents to the College and have since captured a net full of honors. Earlier this year, both Mummey and Beckman earned American Volleyball Coaches Association All-East Coast Regional recognition for the first time in their careers. Mummey earned a spot on the AVCA First Team, while Beckman received an honorable mention. The two also racked up Colonial Athletic Association awards at the end of the 2017 season. Mummey was named CAA Player of the Year for the second time in her career, while Beckman picked up CAA Setter of the Year.
Individual awards are great, but unlike a lot of other sports, volleyball is a true team sport. One person cannot carry a team. It takes the entire team to work together as one unit to be successful. Each member has to know that she can rely on her teammates.
“You have to know that your teammates will do their jobs,” says Mummey, who graduated in May with a degree in business administration. “You have to have each other’s back.”
Beckman, a senior majoring in exercise science, agrees: “You have to have trust in your teammates so that you can do your job correctly.”
That teamwork helped guide the Cougars to a 27-6 record this past year and secure an at-large bid – the first ever – to the NCAA Division I Volleyball Championship. The trip marked the school’s ninth appearance in the tournament, the last coming in 2013.
Mummey was not surprised this team made it to the tournament: “We all worked together and deserved to be there.”
Head Coach Jason Kepner says it has been fun working with Mummey and Beckman the last few years: “They both are students of the game and always looking to learn. They do a great job of taking that information and using it right away in practice and games.”
Featured image: Krissy Mummey ’18 (left) with Allison Beckman (right). (Photo by Mike Ledford)
