By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

If the school you’re attending is less than an hour away, is it still really called, “going off to college?”

Steffi Rodriguez is just fine with attending Polk State College in Winter Haven. It’s close by, and they’re paying just about all of the bill after she recently signed a scholarship to play volleyball for the Vikings.

“I wanted to stay in Florida. Polk was my first tryout, and afterwards I sent them my highlight tape,” the  recently-graduated St. Cloud High School senior said. “They invited me back for a second look and then they offered to me.

“I’m an only child and I’m very close to my parents. Without them I never would have been able to accomplish this.”

While she played just about every position for Coach Ettie Singleton this year for the Bulldogs, she’ll be playing libero for Coach Ruth Ann Rogers in Winter Haven. The Vikings were 14-18 under Rogers last season in the Suncoast Conference.

“My defense is the strongest part of my game, and a libero has to be able to dig every ball,” Rodriguez said. “I’ll be working to get faster to the ball.”

Rodriguez began playing volleyball in the sixth grade, but it wasn’t until this year that she began pushing toward playing in college. It helped that Singleton infused life into the St. Cloud program; the Bulldogs won 17 games after winning fewer than that many the three prior seasons.

“Coach was really an asset to us this year, she puts passion into it,” Rodriguez said. “It made the whole team want to work hard.”

Singleton said Rodriguez’s game instincts will serve her well at Polk.

“She’s been a great asset to our program. She always hustles and no ball gets to the floor around her,” she said. “She excels at passing, which will be a big thing in college.”

Singleton said playing in college will be her toughest challenge yet in her volleyball career, as tough as her club ball experience.

“Obviously the speed of the college game is something every player coming out of high school has to adjust to, but the confidence level of the players there will be better than she’s ever seen,” she said.

Singleton thinks that this signing could start a trend at St. Cloud.

“This is a start. We have a lot of girls who want to play in college,” she said. “Steffi showed them that it’s possible.”