After a practice in Bohler Gym, Katy Ryan scans the facility, the home arena for Washington State volleyball.

"Look at it," she said. "It's amazing. I've never played in a better gym."

"We get the best crowds, and the atmosphere is nothing I've ever seen," Ryan, a senior student-athlete on the Cougar volleyball team, continued. "I love being able to call this home."

Home is important for Ryan, who arrived at WSU from Lakeland High School in Rathdrum, Idaho, less than a two-hour drive away.

"So important," Ryan said of remaining close to her family.

Recruited by colleges nationwide, then head coach Jen Greeny brought Ryan and her family for a visit. 

"We came to games in Pullman, and we loved how close it was." Ryan said. "It was a cool town and a quick drive away."

Ryan verbally committed to WSU the summer after her sophomore year at Lakeland. She then proceeded to put together a legendary high school career leading Lakeland to earn its first volleyball state title in school history while earning Idaho Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year.

Upon arriving at WSU, Ryan recalls her first collegiate match at South Carolina and the difference in the speed of the game from high school to college.

"Everything is so fast," Ryan remembered thinking at the time. "It really helped to watch my teammates and see how they adapted to the game."

Ryan adapted quickly and the impact she has made on WSU extends far beyond the court. 

Ryan entered the 2024 season as one of five returners from the 2023 NCAA Tournament team. A two-time All-Pac-12 selection, Ryan has excelled in the Cougars' first season in the WCC, starting every match and leading the team in kills, including a career-best 30 kills in the team's win at Saint Mary's, Oct. 12.

After the historic 2023 season, one that saw the Cougars reach the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2018, Ryan faced a decision.

Less than two weeks after the Cougs lost to Pittsburgh in the NCAA Tournament, Greeny left to take the head coaching position at West Virginia. 

"I already knew we were going to graduate eight," Ryan said, referring to how many players would be leaving the 2023 team. "Right off the bat, I knew going into it next year was going to be different kind of team. 

As teammates entered the transfer portal, Ryan decided to take a wait-and-see approach during the time period from when Greeny left to a new coaching hire.

"A lot of my teammates jumped in the portal right away. I didn't feel comfortable doing that because I thought if things do work out, I don't want to feel like I tried to go somewhere else and then left for no reason," Ryan explained. "I just wanted to wait and hold off."

When she learned of the possibility of Korey Schroeder, an assistant coach on Greeny's staff in 2023, as the next head coach, Ryan's curiosity peaked.

"That made my interest go up because I just like him as a person," Ryan said.

On Jan.5, Schroeder was named head coach of the program.

"Katy could have been gone,"  Schroeder said. "She could have played at any school in the country. I'm very grateful when I got the job she was staying at WSU. Part of that was the relationship that her and I developed."

The return of her teammates also played a factor in Ryan's decision and she, along with fellow returners Logann Golden, Weronika Wojdyla, Emma Barbero and Lucie Blažková, spent the offseason to plot a course for the upcoming season.

"I started to get excited because we knew we could set the expectation of what we wanted our team to look like," she said. "The foundation was going to be really strong. I'm glad we had the five of us to talk about expectations and how we wanted to start."

"She loves this community and the other women who were returning," Schroeder said. "She wanted to be there with them."

Another decision that played a role in Ryan's decision to stay is her major elementary education. 

"The program here is really awesome," Ryan said. "That's another reason I wanted to stay and finish out at WSU because they set you up to go into the workforce."

Ryan student taught last spring in Colfax last spring with a fifth-grade class.

"I learned a lot," she said. "I loved everything about it."

It was a busy spring for Ryan. In addition to her student teaching, Ryan joined a group of student-athletes on a community service trip to Costa Rica in May.

"The culture was definitely what I loved about it," Ryan said. "The way another country functions, how they act and what they value."

Ryan also serves as a representative for SAAC, serving on the events committee.

Community and being part of the home that is a Washington State Cougar holds deep meaning for Ryan.

"Volleyball is such a cool thing, but it becomes so much more when you know the community you're in," Ryan said. "Getting to know other student-athletes by doing all of this has been a big thing for me. It's so cool to have them support and I can support them.

"Being a Cougar means I have a community with me for the rest of my life."

"Katy is an incredible human being," Schroeder said. "She has made an impact on just everybody that she comes into contact with.

"She is a one of one."