BUTLER TWP, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Like anyone, Josie Rupp had plans.
After high school, she was going to join the military. Volleyball was going to be a thing of the past for Rupp.
Life had other ideas.
(From left, Josie Rupp, Aslyn Pry and Logan Barnhart are District 9 products eager to contribute for the Butler County Community College volleyball team)
Rupp have birth to her son, Beckhym, a year and a half ago. Suddenly, priorities changed right along with her best-laid plans.
So last year she enrolled at Butler County Community College to start her degree in criminal justice. She knew of the volleyball program there, one coached by Rob Snyder and one with a very good track record of winning.
She joined the team. She did so not only for herself — she had the urge to play again — but also for her young son.
“I came back to volleyball,” Rupp said, “just to show him that you can do anything.”
It’s been a long and winding road for Rupp from New Bethlehem to Butler, one wrought with ups, downs and perseverance.
At Redbank Valley, Rupp was a star on the volleyball court at outside hitter. She helped the Bulldogs win the District 9 title over Kane as a sophomore in 2016 and was also a force at the net as a junior and senior.
The 2019 graduate, though, was ready to leave volleyball behind, join the military and then get her criminal justice degree.
But Beckhym’s arrival changed all of that.
“I was in the middle of the testing and then I had Beckhym,” Rupp said. “I decided to stay home. I can’t go away. I remembered Rob coming to one of the Redbank Valley games and scouting me. At that time, I wasn’t planning on going to college, but I contacted him and now I’m on the team and in the criminology program.”
Rupp admitted there was a lot of rust to shake off from her hiatus. It didn’t help that the 2020 season was canceled at BC3 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“She was here last year at practices,” Snyder said of Rupp. “So, this is her second year here. She was a very good high school player on a very good team. And she’s versatile. She’s good in the back row. She’s good in the front row. She’s a good server. She does a little bit of everything. And that’s a good player to have because you can put her in a spot of need.”
Rupp doesn’t care where she plays. She’s just happy to be playing.
She can already feel the excitement building for her first real action in three years.
“The adrenalin is going to be going, that’s for sure,” Rupp said, laughing. “I’m just going to be so excited.”
Rupp is one of three former District 9 players on the Pioneers’ roster.
Moniteau graduates Aslyn Pry and Logan Barnhart, both freshman at BC3, are also on the roster.
For Barnhart, coming to the volleyball program under Snyder has been an eye-opening experience.
And a learning curve.
“Everyone was yelling numbers on the first day, like where to hit the ball and stuff like that,” Barnhart said, chuckling, “and I didn’t know what any of them were. So (Snyder) printed out a whole sheet for me and I hung it up by to my bed because I needed to know the numbers for the next practice. I learned them.”
Barhart has also had to learn other terminology she never learned at Moniteau. She’s also had to take a crash course on the speed of the game for a setter at the next level.
“I’ve learned I had a lot of bad habits in high school that I didn’t realize were bad until I came here.” Barnhart said. “So this year, my goal is just to break those bad habits and just get better and better. That would be what I really want to get out of this season.”
For Pry, she wants to get as much as she can out of her community college experience.
Pry, who was a standout at Moniteau in both volleyball and basketball, will play both sports for the Pioneers.
Like Barnhart, Pry found the first few practices at BC3 eye-opening.
“It was a little overwhelming at first coming from a smaller school,” Pry said. “We weren’t as advanced as we are here. It was definitely a big change, but (Snyder) has definitely improved my game a lot already. I’m so looking forward to getting better and playing with these very talented players.”
Pry is trying to to gauge her success against another District 9 product who starred in both volleyball and basketball for the Pioneers, Karns City grad Mackenzie Craig.
Craig became the first player at BC3 to earn National Junior College Athletic Association All-American honors in two sports.
“I’m just trying to focus on them both like she did,” Pry said. “She had great numbers, so it’s going to be hard to live up to that. I’m trying to focus on volleyball now and when I get to basketball, put all my focus there. It’s going to be a challenge, but I’m looking forward to it.”
Snyder was ecstatic to snag an athlete like Pry, who piled up 185 kills and 110 digs as a middle hitter for the Moniteau volleyball team last fall and then put up 19.9 points and 14.2 rebounds per game in the winter for the Warriors’ basketball team to earn all-state honors.
“I was keeping tabs on her and getting her here was a big deal because we usually don’t get the top-end athlete,” Snyder said. “She was a really good athlete from a small school who didn’t get a lot of exposure, wants to be good and who is willing to work at it. She has the same type of ceiling as Mackenzie Craig, who put a lot of time and effort in to go from that level to being an All-American.”
