Back with the 'Jackets: Audri Marrs returns to volleyball as senior leader for MSUB

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Tuesday, September 22, 2015 Back with the ‘Jackets: Audri Marrs returns to volleyball as senior leader for MSUB

After completing her undergraduate degree at Metro State University-Denver, Audri Marrs suits up for the Yellowjackets and serves as a key leadership figure in her final year of eligibility with the Yellowjackets.

MSUB SPORTS – The first time Audri Marrs stepped into Alterowitz Gymnasium on the Montana State University Billings campus in August she wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

Much like the new teammates around her, she felt her inner nerves come to life, the same feeling every student-athlete gets when being introduced into a new program. Her worries were not those typical of an incoming freshman however; what would be served for lunch in the cafeteria that day or where she was supposed to go to finalize her financial aid package.

That was a path Marrs had already been down and back, as she completed her undergraduate degree at Metro State University-Denver last spring.

Rather, it was the notion that she would be returning to the court as a player after putting her career on hold after her sophomore season with the Roadrunners. The uncertainty surrounding whether or not she would be able to transition

from the coaching mindset she had adopted during her final two undergraduate years back to fitting in as a teammate at the collegiate level again.

These were the questions racing through Marrs’s mind the first time she put on the last volleyball uniform she would ever wear as a player.

Three weeks into the Yellowjackets’ season Marrs has answered these questions in the affirmative, and has solidified herself as a valuable and unique leader among her peers.

RISING UP Listed on MSUB’s roster as standing 5-foot-11, Marrs has always been among the taller women in her peer groups throughout her life. Though she was always active outdoors as a kid, Marrs never took to organized sports and it wasn’t until her eighth grade P.E. teacher talked her into trying basketball and volleyball that she stepped onto a court.

Slamming down kills and rising up for layups came naturally to Marrs, and it wasn’t long before her game as a spiker began to garner attention from coaches at the collegiate level.

“I was recruited out of my club volleyball team to go to Metro State,” Marrs said of her junior year at Chaparral High School in Denver. “It was kind of overwhelming because I hadn’t been in the (organized sports) realm for very long and I didn’t understand a lot about recruiting. I just wanted to pick a school that was going to be a good fit.”

After redshirting as a freshman in 2011, Marrs stepped into a key role for Metro State as she started all 29 matches and led the team in total blocks with 89 the next season. Marrs was enjoying success on the court at the Division II level, but circumstances in her life presented her with a difficult decision to make after her first two seasons.

“There were some things going on outside of volleyball that needed to take precedent, and I decided that I had to focus my time and energy on those things,” Marrs said. “In the end it involved me having to leave the volleyball program.”

Marrs was certain that her volleyball career had come to an end, but she remained in school and completed her bachelor’s degree in human development in four years at Metro State.

Whether Marrs knew it or not, however, there was one set of eyes that remained on her even when she turned in her jersey and swapped her knee pads and ankle braces for cowboy boots. It was MSU Billings head coach Lisa Axel who kept Marrs in mind, and who ultimately provided her with one final opportunity to compete in college volleyball.

FROM MSUD TO MSUB “Audri brings valuable playing experience to our program. With so many new athletes on our team this year it was very important to bring in an upperclassman who has played at a high Division II level.” – MSUB head coach Lisa Axel on senior Audri Marrs.

Now in her fourth season as head coach at MSUB, Axel, like Marrs, was a product of Metro State. Serving as an assistant coach in the program when Marrs first broke in, Axel liked what she saw from Day 1 and knew all along the potential Marrs had to be a standout.

Even when Axel departed to pursue the head coaching opportunity with the Yellowjackets, she remained in touch with Marrs and would take the time to check in with her periodically. When Axel learned that Marrs stepped away from volleyball, she locked away in the back of her mind that her former player would still have a year of eligibility left down the road.

“I never thought I would play college volleyball again,” Marrs said with a convincing degree of certainty. “I decided my senior year that I wanted to get into counseling, and after meeting with a friend at a mental health center I learned that I needed to get my master’s degree if I wanted to pursue that career.”

The phone call from Axel came during the spring of Marrs’s senior year, as her former coach cast her a line in the form of a mutually beneficial opportunity. With a young team on her hands, Axel saw tremendous value in Marrs’s leadership capabilities and playing experience. With the desire to begin her master’s degree and a year of eligibility left in her pocket, Marrs saw what would be her final chance to play the game competitively.

“We communicated about it off and on during my senior year,” Marrs said regarding signing with the Yellowjackets. “Towards the end it became more real, and I thought MSUB would be a good opportunity to further my education and test the waters with psychology.”

“I had the opportunity to coach Audri when she played at Metro State,” Axel said. “She has fit in very well here at MSUB as we run a very similar system to the one she was familiar with. Audri is a very smart blocker and has done a great job slowing down our opponents.”

In particular, Marrs commented that she has tried to impart her knowledge of the game to MSUB’s two freshman middle blockers, Taylor Albertson and Miranda McConnell, and share things with them that she wishes she would have known in her first college season.

“The best thing I can do is bring positivity and help whenever I can,” Marrs said. “I have been trying to help them understand that everything is a process, and it takes time to develop skills at the college level.”

RANCH HAND Marrs has ambitions to pursue a career in the field of family counseling or working with at-risk youth. In particular, the practice of animal therapy strikes itself as intriguing to Marrs, and through one of her most recent endeavors involving ranching the idea has grown on her.

Often times, therapy animals are used by universities to provide a form of stress relief to students, especially during high-pressure periods such as finals week. Marrs feels she could hit the ground running with the unique form of counseling, as she is currently gaining valuable experience working with animals on a regular basis.

“About a year ago I purchased a herd of Scottish highland cattle, which are not your typical Black Angus breed,” Marrs said. “I figured I would invest in it and raise the herd for a while, and it has been really fun. I have helped people start their own herds, and it has been a unique and special experience.”

A far cry from a normal 9-to-5 job, the outdoor, hands-on environment of the ranch is what appeals most to Marrs. Currently responsible for 500 head of beef cattle, Marrs is in charge of maintaining her herd’s feeding, water and nutritional intake, as well as marketing them.

“It takes up a big part of the spring, and I also run a big hay operation during the summer,” Marrs said. “Having a herd is the closest thing to a family environment or a team that you can get out on the ranch. It is nice to have that.”

COUNSELOR ON AND OFF THE FLOOR “I am really grateful to her, the team and MSUB for giving me the opportunity to finish my eligibility. It has been really rewarding to have her as a head coach and to have had her as an assistant before. Everyone has been really accepting of a unique situation, super helpful, and I couldn’t have asked for a better team or coaching staff to experience this with.” – Audri Marrs on head coach Lisa Axel and the 2015 Yellowjacket team.

In the Yellowjackets’ most recent match against Northwest Nazarene University, Marrs wound up on a set from Kyndal Williams and fired down a loud kill. As her momentum carried her back down to the court, she turned around with a smile on her face and let out a natural yell of triumph.

Waiting for her were her five teammates on the court, arms up with a similar look of excitement and enthusiasm written across their faces.

It’s a feeling Marrs is still getting used to again, but is one that she has never forgotten even through her two-year hiatus from the game.

“The biggest fulfillment is the sense of family within this team,” Marrs said. “I really enjoy all of the girls and the personalities we have, and there is an openness that the team brings that is hard to find elsewhere. Especially since I had gone away from being on a team and am now getting back into it, I realized how different this is from outside friendships.”

In terms of goals, Marrs simply hopes to set the best example that she can for her teammates and ensure that she shows them how to play the game the right way. “Since it is my last chance to play, I just want to leave it all on the court and play the best that I can,” Marrs said. “I want to be better at the things I wasn’t as good at my first time around, and I think that helps me have a positive mentality.”

Whether she is helping families in need through counseling or breeding a strong herd of cattle, or perhaps a little bit of both, Marrs will one day reflect on her time as a Yellowjacket having given her a special leadership opportunity. It is one she has taken ownership and advantage of, and she has already begun to impact those around her through her unique and inspirational journey back to the court.

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