UNIQUE RECRUITS JOIN NORTHWEST COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL TEAM IN 2023

BY SETH ROMSA TRIBUNE SPORTS WRITER
Courtesy of the Powell Tribune

Three diverse sophomore recruits who were already in Powell — including Michelyn "Mikey" Pilia'au, DanniKa "Danny" Barfuss and Kamryn Jenkins — will be joining the Northwest College volleyball team this season along with 10 freshmen recruits. The three are hoping to bring lessons from their nontraditional paths to the team to help a young squad in the fall.   

LONG JOURNEY
Pilia'au will be joining the Trappers after what has been a long journey since graduating from high school in 2018 in Kapolei, Hawai'i.

Out of high school Pilia'au was recruited on a full ride volleyball scholarship to Palm Beach State College, a junior college in eastern Florida.

After a year spent in Florida, a bad experience led to the decision to move back home and begin working.

A friend and boat captain contacted her and asked her to work on a tour boat.

After spending time on the boat she decided to move to Alaska, also working on a tourist boat for two years.

While living in Alaska, Pilia'au was contacted by her cousin Laie Myrick who lives in Powell, and Myrick convinced her to move to Wyoming.

"Now that I moved here my mind is more clear," Pilia'au said.

Myrick asked Pilia'au to come play at a volleyball game taking place in the morning at a local church.

Originally saying no, Pilia'au was eventually convinced and decided to take part in the games.

After playing, Pilia'au was approached by Alicia Keister — the wife of NWC coach Scott Keister.

She talked to Pilia'au, learning her story and eventually convinced her to talk to her husband after learning she still had eligibility at the junior college level.

After talking to players on the team and looking at the program, Pilia'au finally decided to join the program.

"I felt like this is an opportunity," Pilia'au said. "He felt really invested in his girls. I got to meet some of the girls already on the team and it was really good."

Now getting a second chance to prove herself, Pilia'au joins the team as the oldest player among the group at 23 and looking to help guide the younger Trappers. She also wants to continue her own growth after lessons learned in her first college experience and over the years.

"As I'm growing up, I'm realizing that I could be a leader for the team," Pilia'au said. "When you first go to college you want to party, you're young … I plan on being myself and showing them you don't have to pick bad choices to have fun … You can't tell them what to do but you can guide them."

Pilia'au is planning to bring in her positive energy to help move the team forward with great chemistry, believing she can get along with anybody and be infectious to the rest of the group.

With her spending four years away from competitive volleyball, she has been using the summer to get back in shape and continue practicing her new good habits.

"I've been doing good about them (habits) and trying to keep a positive mindset about life," Pilia'au said. "I feel way better about myself now that I'm working out."

She will join the Trappers as a 6-foot-tall middle blocker with one year of eligibility.   

MANAGER TO PLAYER
Another unique player making her way onto the team this upcoming season will be Barfuss, who spent last year as a manager on the volleyball team.

Barfuss has long had a connection to Northwest despite being from Bancroft, Idaho.

Two older brothers, Dawson and Mathew, competed on the Trapper wrestling team from 2015-17 and 2018-20 — setting a goal for herself to become a Trapper volleyball player once she reached college.

"I wrote myself a note at 12 that said, 'I want to be a Northwest College volleyball player,'" Barfuss said. "I showed it to coach [Keister] and he made it come true."

She served as the manager for the team last season, allowing her to bond with the players while not having to compete against the other women for a position on the court.

"It was a stress free run while all the other girls were competing for spots," Barfuss said. "I liked being a manager, it was interesting to see how everything played out and to see if I actually wanted to do it."

After the season Barfuss was asked if she would be the manager this upcoming season after the fall campaign, but she was unsure if she could settle for that position again.

She competed with the team in the spring semester, which allowed her to play with the team and eventually she was offered a spot in a surprising way.

At the end of the year Trapper Awards in May, Barfuss was told in front of all the student-athletes at Northwest that she was being offered a roster position this upcoming season.

"I wasn't sure what he [Keister] was going to say so for him to say that was a surprise," Barfuss said. "Sometimes life falls perfectly into place and sometimes it doesn't and I'm just grateful to have the team and coaches that I do."

Being from a small town in Idaho, Barfuss is well versed in a wide variety of sports including basketball, track and field, cheer and golf alongside volleyball.

In high school, Barfuss played primarily as a setter for her team but had experience as an outside hitter her senior year.

However, standing at a height of 5 foot, 3 inches, Barfuss is the shortest on the team heading into this new year.

She is listed as a defensive specialist for the Trappers, something she adapted to in the spring with her team while continuing to grow close with the team heading into summer workouts.

"We all know what to expect from each other and push each other," Barfuss said. "Me and Jocelyn [Sanders] FaceTime each other every week and sometimes do our workouts together to find motivation."

Coming in as a sophomore, Barfuss is hoping to be a strong role model for the incoming freshmen, using her experience with the team to help lead a young group of Trappers.

"I love to be a good role model," Barfuss said. "A lot of workouts and I am mentally preparing. The first month is definitely the hardest, at least I know what to expect now."   

STUDENT RECRUIT
The final non-traditional recruit from the Powell area will be Jenkins, a Northwest student who played at Star Valley in high school before deciding not to continue her playing career.

While attending school last year, Jenkins was contacted by returning setter Kamri Hutchings, who reached out to Jenkins after Keister said he was looking for another setter on the roster.

"I decided that there was no harm in talking to him and seeing what he had to say," Jenkins said. "He reached out and we planned a time to meet. We talked about what he was looking for in this upcoming season, why I was interested in talking to him and why I didn't play right after high school."

Later that day a time was arranged for Jenkins to play with the team, and she was offered a roster spot a little while after.

"He didn't watch me play for very long," Jenkins said. "Later I asked him what I did that showed him that I was a good fit for this upcoming season."

Keister told her that he had seen her play in high school after watching one of her teammates. Jenkins said he probably saw her footage on Hudl as well.

She was able to work out and work with the team in the offseason, allowing her to warm up to the idea of playing and helping her realize how much she missed the sport.

"For the most part it has been going really well," Jenkins said. "I didn't realize how much I missed it all."

Heading into her sophomore year as a student, Jenkins will have the opportunity to help relate to the younger girls on the team who will be competing in their first year of college — while sharing a common experience with the sophomores having already gone through a year of education at Northwest.

"I am hoping to have really great chemistry with the entire team," Jenkins said.

As she is heading into her final year at Northwest, she said she's hoping to have fun while being grateful for the opportunity to play in college.

"I think that having fun will make this season super special," Jenkins said. "I am super excited and very grateful for Keister to give me the opportunity to play for Northwest."