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UCF volleyball recruit Abby Schomers ends Skutt career on high note
Abby Schomers reacts to a point during the Skutt SkyHawks' state championship match. (Credit: Chloe Liebentritt/ Skutt Catholic)

UCF volleyball recruit Abby Schomers ends Skutt career on high note

OMAHA, Neb. (BVM) — For Abby Schomers, volleyball has always been in her life and she’s not stopping anytime soon.

Schomers of Omaha Skutt Catholic High School started her volleyball career at the age of nine, but volleyball was already in her life through her sister, Alli Schomers, who also played volleyball. In fact, Schomers was so ready to get into the sport that when she started playing on her club team at the age of nine she was playing with 12-year-olds.

“Since my sister played, I grew up around the sport,” Schomers said. “ I eventually started at a young age and it has grown with me and I’ve grown with the sport and I’ve grown to love it.”

This talent at the club level led her to make the varsity team her freshman year, a surprise to her considering the depth of the team. Skutt has a long history of successful teams, winning the previous 6 titles before this year’s state championship. This year, they went 33-8 and won the class B NHSAA state title.

It can seem intimidating being a freshman on such an established team, but according to Schomers, it was an easy transition thanks to the senior leaders on the team. Despite not playing much her freshman year, she embraced her role as “energizer” on the bench, which helped her develop a winning mindset.

“The seniors were excellent in getting us comfortable and were awesome role models,” she said. “It’s an honor because I didn’t know if I could get on varsity so that was a big confidence boost. Even though I was mostly the energizer on the bench I embraced that role and I kept thinking about wanting to continue the legacy.”

Skutt won state her freshman year, which gave her and her team motivation to keep pushing to the next year and then the year after that, and so on.

“You just have to keep building,” Schomers said. “When you get to a certain milestone you just want to keep building.”

As she has earned more playing time, Schomers has seen herself grow in other ways too, such as becoming stronger and learning more about the game. But she has not only grown in physical shape, but mental shape, too.

“By the end of sophomore year I started training my mind and eyes to certain systems I wanted to run during the game,” Schomers said. “Being a D1 recruit you have to learn those things so I worked really hard to train my mind. Mind training was a big thing that helped me improve over the years.”

However, it wasn’t until winning nationals with her club team in July the summer before her junior year, where she also received the MVP award for the tournament, that she realized just how good she could be.

“Winning nationals was a big accomplishment,” Schomers said. “I played really well and It was a real eye-opener. It was also a confidence booster with recruiting.”

As evidenced by her mental training, Schomers was relentless in doing everything she could to become a better athlete, saying that she had three to four hours of something every night, whether it be weights, practice or other. Despite her daunting schedule with both school and volleyball, she said her time-management skills have helped her through it.

“Learning time management definitely helped my career succeed because I had to figure out how to balance it all,” Schomers said. “Some people don’t know how to do that and I had to learn, but I had a lot of good role models that helped me adapt. It takes a lot of work but it helped me become a stronger, smarter, faster player today.”

Her talent did not go unnoticed, as she committed to Central Florida early August of her junior year. She knew she wanted to go away for college, and immediately felt a connection with the campus as well as the coaches and program.

“I’m super excited to be a part of the team and I know we will do amazing things,” Schomers said. “It’s always been a dream to play in college, and it’s not something a lot of people get to do, so I’m just excited to experience it all.”

Schomers had many role models to look up to throughout her career, such as Skutt alumna and Nebraska outside hitter Lindsey Krause as well as her sister Schomers who plays for UMKC.

“Lindsey Krause was such a big role model for me because of her work ethic and mindset,” Schomers said. “She also had confidence which rubbed off on everyone else which made me want to be that person. My sister I’ve looked up to since I was little, she has instilled a work ethic in me and I’m grateful for that.”

This work ethic is a component of the team as a whole, and is part of what has contributed to their success, along with trust and confidence.

“Our culture is ever-changing, but we leave no man behind, you’re either all in it together or not at all,” said Schomers. “Our culture really instills gratitude and appreciation for the game and we want to work hard for our teammates, coaches, and the history of the program. It’s not about you, it’s about the team, reiterating trust instills confidence in one another.”

Despite being ranked #2 going into the state championships, the team’s culture around trust and confidence defied the odds to win their seventh straight title, a dream for Schomer and her teammates and coaches.

‘It meant the world to me to win state my senior year, it was so surreal I couldn’t even really comprehend when it initially happened,” she said. “All the work paid off in that one match. I’m super appreciative for the program and coaches and just grateful to be a part of it.”

She thanks her family, teammates, and friends for getting her where she is today, but one of the most important people she has to thank is her coach, Renee Saunders, the mastermind behind the past seven titles for Skutt.

“Coach Saunders is an amazing coach and an even better person,” Schomers said. We couldn’t thank her enough for what she has done for our team. She works so hard and it was amazing to win that seventh title for her. She and this team have made me a better person and player, and for that I am super grateful.”