Junior Ally Knueven and Centre College are ranked in the top 25 for the first time ever this week. (Centre College Athletics Photo)
Centre College junior volleyball player Ally Knueven has had to learn to deal with the unexpected way too often in her career.
Her junior year of high school a devastating tornado hit her hometown of Mt. Juliet, Tenn., in 2020. Her senior year COVID disrupted the 2021 volleyball season. After a brilliant first year at Centre College when she was named the 2022 Southern Athletic Association Newcomer of the Year, she missed the 2023 season after breaking her ankle the third day of preseason practice.
Now she’s back fully recovered — and says she is better than ever because of lessons learned when she couldn’t play last year — and hoping to help the Colonels contend for a conference title. Coach Patrick Robidoux’s team went 21-9 last year overall and 12-2 in conference play to finish second behind Berry.
“I’m just thankful I can even play. I definitely took things for granted (before the injury) like being able to practice, being able to walk back and forth to my classes,” she said, noting that Centre public safety officers had to drive her to class last year. “I think that while I was in the midst of being injured, I definitely didn’t see a lot of the positives. But now that I’m out of it, and now that I’ve recovered from it, I can definitely see that it’s helped me and made me grow as a person and player.”
Knueven, who ranked fourth in the SAA with 2.75 kills per set in 2022, believes playing four matches in California to open the season, including two against ranked teams, will be invaluable for the Colonels. Centre went 1-1 against the ranked teams, including a 3-1 win over No. 3 Claremont -Mudd-Scripps — the highest ranked victory ever for Centre volleyball when Knueven had 12 kills.
“We obviously knew that we were playing very highly ranked teams, very good teams out in California, and we just played with no expectations. We didn’t really care who was on the other side of the net,” the Centre junior said. “I think we’re definitely going to keep that mindset, not really worry too much about who’s on the other side because if we play our game, we’re going to do well conference-wise.
“I definitely think that we could go really far this season. We just keep getting better. I think that with these ranked wins and working so hard during the preseason, we definitely have the confidence built up to have a great season.”
Centre beat No. 19 Transylvania and No. 23 Covenant last weekend and is now 6-1 and ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association top 25 for the first time. Centre (6-1) is No. 20 in this week’s poll going into tonight’s return match at No. 25 Transylvania.
Here are other thoughts Knueven had on recruiting, her injury, life in Danville and more:
Question: How do you get from Mount Juliet, Tenn., to Centre College?
Knueven: “It was honestly a very fast process. I had only been looking and trying to be recruited for a few months, and coach Robo reached out to me over the phone and said that he had seen my film and he wanted me to come up for a visit. I honestly just got the feeling that he really cared about his athletes. I came on my visit here, I talked with Robo for about 15 minutes, and I just knew that this was the place that I wanted to be.
“Robo is a very like genuine coach that cares about you as an athlete, as a student and as a person, and that’s what I was looking for. And the school is amazing. It’s a really close knit group of people. The team has a great chemistry.”
Question: Considering the success you had in high school, were you not sure about playing volleyball in college to have such a late start in recruiting?
Knueven: “I didn’t know that I wanted to play in college. It was kind of just something that I picked up out of nowhere. I had only been looking at colleges for a few months, and then this was the second college that I talked to. I just knew that this was the place so I didn’t keep looking.”
Question: What were your high school years like considering you had to deal not only with COVID but also the devastating tornado in Mt. Juliet when you were a junior?
Knueven: “COVID was definitely an experience for everyone. We weren’t in school for months, and then the following year after COVID, we did kind of a joint schedule where one day we’d be at home and going over zoom in class, and then the next day, we’d be actually in class, masks on. I think it took me a while to get used to it and just adapt to the different situations.
“And then the tornado that obviously hit us by surprise. We weren’t in school for a few weeks, and it actually tore down my middle school completely. Thankfully it just missed my neighborhood. A few of my friends were really affected by the tornado as well as some other people I knew.”
Question: How difficult was missing last season with the ankle injury?
Knueven: “I had never been injured to the point where it took away a whole season for me, so that was definitely a new experience. It took a lot of work to get through it mentally and physically. But with the help of my coaches, training staff and my teammates, it was honestly an easier process than I thought it would be.
“It was not the greatest experience just to sit there and watch knowing that I did have such a successful freshman season, and I worked extremely hard over the summer afterwards, was really ready for my sophomore season. However, I think it helped me grow as a person. I became a really good teammate. I got to sit back and watch everyone and see things that you normally don’t see when you’re on the court, and so being off the court kind of provided a new insight for me. I got to play a different role than I normally do, and I think it helped build my character and made me better for this season.”
Question: Are you back the level you were as a freshman now or maybe better?
Knueven: “I say I’m even better. I think that with the help of (director of sports performance) Jeremy Carlson and the staff in the gym. I worked really hard to get back where I was. I feel like this year is going to be better than my freshman season.”
Question: Was there a little extra motivation knowing how well the team did last season and the big expectations the team has this year?
Knueven: “I definitely would say there was. Everyone on the team is obviously very talented, and that just helped me just to keep moving forward. After losing my sophomore season, I really just wanted to get back on the court because I love being on the court. I love playing with those girls, and to get the opportunity to do it again was obviously a very big motivating factor.”
Question: How has just life in Danville in general been for you?
Knueven: “Life in Danville is honestly very great. It’s a small town, and I’m kind of used to Mt. Juliet, a growing city, growing population and just having everything within five minutes of you. But here, I feel like you get to know Danville really well. There’s not a lot of places to go, but the places you do go, you’re familiar with them, and it’s very easy to love this.”
