VINCENT — Surrounded by family, friends, coaches, teammates and the Warren community, Warriors senior Makenna Long signed on Wednesday to play college volleyball at Salem University. She said of putting pen to paper: “It felt really good. I loved celebrating with my friends and family. It was so surreal and such an important moment for me.”
Long had 742 kills, 107 aces, 70 blocks, 478 digs, and 336 receptions in high school.
A four-year varsity starter and two-time captain, she compiled a long list of awards and accomplishments at both Fort Frye and Warren.
In addition to district and district championships, she was a first-team all-district champion, two-time first-team all-OVAC, a D2 Senior All-Star representative, a second-team all-Twin State League champion, and received the Lauren Weinstock Sportsmanship Award.
For a long time, Salem's close-knit community drew her to the university. “Every time I went down, Salem gave me a sense of home and I grew up. I felt like I was at home and I felt connected to the people the moment I met them. I felt it.”
The opportunity to play at Salem actually came to her at a time when athletes were eagerly seeking slots in college athletics thanks to technology. “Normally girls my age start building a recruiting profile. I didn't. I didn't think I could do it because of past injuries, but Coach (Matt) Carpenter helped me get started. He reached out to me.”
She talked about her experience being scouted and her first meeting with the Tigers' head man. “Especially meeting Coach Carpenter was really good because you get to know the coach, what practice is like and you have to have a personal connection with the coach.”
I plan to major in Biology with a concentration in human nutrition and performance. Her ultimate goal is to become an emergency room physician. She discovered her career path thanks to a class at Washington State University in Ohio. “I went to the Washington County Career Center and took a pre-nursing class. When I went to Washington State, I went to the cadaver lab and talked to the professor. He was finishing up his emergency medicine training, so , I talked to him and he asked me if I had thought about it. I started looking into it, and it was something I was very interested in.”
With the school year coming to a close and volleyball becoming a fall sport, Long's first season in Salem will be upon us soon. She explained what the process would be like. “I'm going to go down in mid-August and start right after that. They're trying to get you ready to get back in shape and get me into a possible position.”
During her time as a high school volleyball player, Long had two unique opportunities to make history while creating lifelong memories. She was a member of three of her OVAC championship teams, including the first teams in history at Fort Frye and Warren.
“To all my coaches, my parents who supported me, my family who came to watch me even though they were far away, my teammates who inspired me and pushed me to be the best I could be, I would like to thank the community.” Long said.
Contact Aaron Lee at alee@newsandsentinel.com