PULLMAN, Wash. -- Two recent graduates of Washington State University are set to play volleyball professionally in Sweden this year.
Camryn Irwin, a setter on the Cougar volleyball team from 2011-13, and Chelsey Bettinson, a middle blocker on the WSU team from 2011-14, will join the Svedala Volleybollklubb team, which plays in the top division in Sweden, at the end of August. Their season lasts through April 2016.
For Irwin, originally from Brush Prairie, Wash., this is her second professional experience after playing in Austria in 2014. While at WSU, Irwin was a team co-captain, a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic first team selection, and accumulated 3,390 assists in her career, fourth-best in WSU all-time records.
“When I went to Austria I had a little over a semester of school left and it was my priority to get that schooling done,” Irwin said. “I was still training in hopes of getting another opportunity to play. WSU and the coaching staff were so wonderful to let me continue to use the facilities and the gym and help me out whenever they could.”
Irwin has spent the summer traveling around the country and coaching at volleyball camps as well as applying for some of her “dream” jobs in broadcasting. In the meantime her agency was still looking for a playing job overseas.
“I had a lot of good interviews for a broadcasting job, and all the interviewers were very encouraging about me taking the opportunity to play while it was still available to me,” Irwin said. “I'm very blessed to be able to continue to have my playing career.”
Bettinson, a middle blocker from Richland, Wash., had a stellar senior season at WSU, with her 1.43 blocks per set second-best in the Pac-12, 13th-best nationally, and her 175 total blocks eighth-best in the NCAA. Bettinson was a tri-captain and a three-time Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention selection.
“I had thought about playing professionally, but didn't seriously consider it and follow through until the spring,” Bettinson said. “This past season did encourage me to continue playing. Having a solid senior season gave me confidence going into this experience. Camryn's experience playing overseas heavily influenced my desire to go play. Having her as a resource was a huge help in figuring out the recruiting process and what kind of experience I should expect. After hearing about how much she enjoyed her experience it gave me a strong desire to do it for myself!”
Irwin and Bettinson were best friends and roommates as well as teammates at WSU but thought their career paths after graduation would separate them.
“We had the same agency but it was such a small chance that we would get the chance to play together,” Irwin said. “In the professional volleyball world it is rare to get to play with another American let alone a college teammate or someone from the same conference or a college teammate let alone a middle or your roommate or your best friend.”
“Having Camryn on my team also makes this experience way more exciting,” Bettinson said. “I love playing with her and I also get to go live abroad with one or my closest friends.”
There is also an advantage to Svedala team to have Irwin and Bettinson reunited as professional players.
“The setter-middle relationship is so crucial and I'm going to know what Chelsey's going to do before she does it,” Irwin said. “That is incredibly exciting. I will be able to focus on learning the other players' tendencies and what they like. To take our Washington State experience over to Sweden will really progress our team so much earlier than it typically would with a new team.”
Staying in top physical condition before heading to Sweden has been vastly different for each player, especially without the structure of a collegiate volleyball program. Irwin, living in San Diego this summer, has been training at South Mission Beach and at Point Loma Nazarene University, the alma mater of several of her family members.
“I've been conditioning on my own but I'm pretty self-motivated,” Irwin said. “I'm at the beach before 7 a.m. and do my running conditioning there. I've also been training at the Point Loma open gyms every night so I've been able to lift, do more cardio, and use the gym. It's worked out well.”
Bettinson, on a family vacation in Europe, has had to take a different route.
“We have done a ton of walking and stair climbing while in Europe so we have constantly been active. I have also fit in a few workouts when our hotel has had a gym,” Bettinson said.
Their plans for their futures are equally diverse.
“If I hadn't played professionally this year I would have become certified as either an emergency department technician or a medical assistant to work toward pursuing a career as a Physician's Assistant,” Bettinson said.
Irwin, who had several interviews this summer with television networks, would like to delay her broadcast career just a little longer if the right opportunity comes along.
“I'd like to play volleyball in the United States someday and so that means to move to the beach,” Irwin said.
Fans of Cougar volleyball wish Camryn and Chelsie all the best and will be following their professional careers this year and in the future.
