Voyageurs come calling for Hyatt

Allison Hyatt thought she had closed the door on her competitive volleyball career. That was before Mel Millerbernd came knocking.
Hyatt, who ended her time with the Muskie senior girls’ volleyball team with a heart-wrenching loss in the NorWOSSA final to the Dryden Eagles back in February, got a new lease on her court life this past week when she signed a letter of intent to attend Rainy River Community College in International Falls this fall.
The letter not only confirmed her academic future for the next two years, but also will allow her to continue pursuing her athletic passion as a member of the school’s Voyageurs volleyball squad.
“[Millerbernd] really wanted me to come play,” said Hyatt. “It was a really good offer. They’ve got a good course selection at the school, and I really liked the program.”
Hyatt was only minutes removed from when the Eagles ended the Muskies’ hopes of a fourth-straight NorWOSSA crown when Millerbernd approached her and extended the invitation to cross the river.
“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” recalled Hyatt, who will start practising with the Voyageurs on Aug. 11, with the Minnesota Community College Conference regular season beginning later that month.
“I went over to the school and hit the ball around with a few members of their team. It’s a really nice school with really nice people,” she added.
Millerbernd’s coaching résumé indicates she knows talent when she sees it—and how to bring the most out of her players.
She’s the two-time reigning selection as the Minnesota Community College Coach of the Year, an honour she has won three times in total.
Millerbernd also was named Region 13-B and District ‘D’ Coach of the Year last year when she guided the Voyageurs to a second-place finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association championships.
She’s confident she’s uncovered a potential star in Hyatt.
“I’m not going to recruit people and then cut them,” said Millerbernd. “I can’t guarantee her a starting spot, but she’s going to push some people.
“Skills-wise, she’s got it all,” she added. “I also loved her intensity. You can tell she loves the game. Those are the kind of kids I like.”
Even with her team coming off an extremely successful campaign, Millerbernd said there’s plenty of room for Hyatt to contribute.
“As a community college, we lose a lot of players every year,” noted Millerbernd. “We’ve had good luck recruiting athletes out of Fort Frances in the past.
“I think Allison will fit in very well here.”
Hyatt is in the process of applying for both academic and athletic scholarships to help lessen the financial burden of attending RRCC.
She plans to use the credits she gets from her two-year stint there as a foundation to help her earn her degree in kinesiology at another school, although she is undecided on what side of the border that will be.
“I could go for further schooling in U.S. or I could always come back to Canada,” said Hyatt. “I never even considered going to school in the U.S. until now, so I’ll see what happens.”