The Idaho volleyball team will graduate three seniors at the end of the 2017 season. Get to know Torrin Crawford, Klaree Hobart and Casey Kline a little better before Saturday's Senior Night match against North Dakota in the Memorial Gym (7 p.m.).
 
Senior Torrin Crawford had big shoes to fill on the Idaho volleyball team.
 
"I was ready at that point, to step into that role," she said. "As a leader, I realized I didn't want to be the type who yelled and screamed, more lead by example and was helpful to the underclassmen because that's how people helped me."
 
Crawford has become a leader and discovered her career path during her time at UI.
 
The middle blocker will graduate in with a degree in exercise science, and used her time to take the prerequisite classes to enter nursing school.
 
Family is important to Crawford. She wanted to be close enough to home for holiday visits, and close enough her parents could watch her play. After attending two summer camps at UI, Idaho head coach Debbie Buchanan approached Crawford about coming to UI.
 
"I didn't know if I wanted to play basketball or volleyball," she said. "Coach Debbie offered me a full-ride scholarship which kind of shocked me and I was like, 'Well, I guess I'm doing this.'"
 
She had the opportunity to complete an internship with the Palouse Surgery Center in Moscow over the summer. Crawford got to scrub in, watch surgeries and hold tools.
 
"I fell in love with the medical field," she said. "I was right in there with all the blood and the everything for the first time. It made me realize I wanted to be helping people."
 
Crawford's mother is a nurse, which she said informed her decision to pursue nursing.
 
"Seeing her impact on people my entire life, how she just selflessly helps people, that was the foundation for that desire to help people," she said. "When I came to Idaho and just figured out what I like to do, it always led me back to wanting to help people."
 
She's found that nursing is pretty similar to volleyball too.
 
"Transitioning from volleyball to nursing is going to be a smooth transition," she said. "It's another team. You walk into the hospital, to a locker room, where you change into your scrubs. Everyone's wearing the same thing. You go to your surgery and everyone has a common goal and you work together."
 
Crawford said the organization and time management skills she learned at UI will also help her in the future.

"School can be just as stressful and hard on you as volleyball can be, so learning to manage that and take it as it comes has been helpful," she said.
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Klaree Hobart likes small towns.
 
Hobart spent two years at Blue Mountain Community College before coming to UI. When she was picking a college to transfer to, Moscow stuck out. The Lewiston native wanted to be close to home, in a small, tight-knit community.
 
"I've been a part of the Vandal family since I was little," she said. "Just knowing that I can drive 30 minutes and be at my home is always nice. I can escape on Sundays or even for a night."
 
She said her parents have never missed a game.
 
Hobart has built close relationships with her coaches and teammates at UI and realized there's more to life than playing volleyball.
 
"This is more than any other time commitment I've been involved in," she said. "Coming from a community college, [the time commitment] is a lot less. It made me realize we get so wrapped up in volleyball, we forget to take 'me' time and remember there's more to life than sports."
 
Hobart will graduate with a degree in organizational sciences. She decided recently she did not want to pursue a career in education.
 
"I just realized it wasn't what I wanted to do," she said. "I don't think I could do the same thing year after year for 30 years until I retire. I just want to finish my degree."
 
Hobart said she's grown a lot in just two years in Moscow.
 
"I've realized what's important in life," she said. "I'm a social butterfly — but not as much as I used to be. Rather than having a million acquaintances, make time for yourself. It's ok to skip out and read a book."
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Casey Kline still remembers her freshman year at UI.
 
"I remember being that scared freshman who wouldn't speak in the locker room, eyes down," she said. "I called my mom crying, going, 'I can't do it. This is crazy. I have so much to do.'"
 
Kline's volleyball career has helped her become the friendly, bubbly person she is today.
 
"It made me grow immensely, into a good leader and teammate," she said. "I knew I had good leaders and teammates when I was a freshman, and always wanted to be that same thing for the freshman coming in now."
 
Kline chose UI for the great academic programs and a family-oriented athletic department.
 
"I knew when I met the team, everyone genuinely cared about each other," she said. "The business college is unbelievable. Between sports and academics, I knew this was a place I could learn and grow."
 
Her parents have always impressed on the importance of priorities.
 
"Family first, school second, volleyball last," she said. "I think that's why I came to UI because I knew school was important as well as volleyball."
 
Kline will graduate with her business marketing degree.
 
"My short-term career goal is to work for a marketing firm, my long-term goal is to own my own business," she said. "I want to work for myself."
 
Kline said she has learned how to better manage her time and make sacrifices while playing volleyball.
 
"You don't get to go out every night," she said. "Hopefully, I'm going to get a job here in the next couple months., I know they want people who work hard and are dedicated and can manage their time and are good leaders. All those small things we did every day really amounted to what they want in the workplace. I do this fun volleyball thing but I'll also have a career."
 
She even remembers hard conditioning workouts fondly.
 
"Even the hard moments, we all come together because we all did it together. Going through the hard challenges with your team and your family are some of the best moments I've had here."