Whenever former Idaho Vandal Taryn Vrieling came to Pullman for a volleyball game, she felt the energy on campus. The rocking gym, energy from the crowd and social life on campus. Despite this being just nine miles away from her home in Moscow, everything in Pullman was just what she was missing from her own college experience.

Vrieling said her sophomore year served as another chance, she thought maybe things would turn around for the better.

"I knew after my first season it was not for me, but I had such high hopes it would get better, so I stayed another year," Vrieling said.

Through the adversity, Vrieling could feel her love for the sport fading. When the time came to enter the transfer portal, she did not hesitate and immediately knew where her new home would be for her junior year.

"I knew this was where I wanted to go. I really liked the Palouse, and I had a family friend involved in recruiting and she was able to get in touch with the coaching staff," Vrieling said. "I knew I wanted to stay in this area."

Vrieling had been to Wazzu volleyball games, she had felt the energy from the crowd, but nothing could have matched the feeling of being out on the court in front of that crowd.

"I had been to multiple volleyball games before this and knew that the Bohler atmosphere was insane but Coming into it and being able to play in it was crazy, I loved every second of it," Vrieling said.

While Vrieling felt the drastic change on the court, it was the relationships she has built since arriving to Wazzu that have changed her outlook on the sport.

"Now I love volleyball, I love being on the court with my teammates and the team has drastically changed my experience with volleyball," Vrieling said. "It is no longer an individual sport for me. It is about the team."

This change came just two years after fading away from the sport. Vrieling recalled that she did not enjoy volleyball, now she is more connected with the sport and a team than she ever has been.

"I knew I had made such great friendships here and the coaching staff was incredibly supportive of everything that I had wanted to do and honestly, I have loved living in Pullman."