McCarty strives for success on volleyball court, in classroom

Whether it's her humor, academic ability, prodigious talents or skill on the volleyball court, it seems everyone can find something they like in freshman defensive specialist Tristan McCarty.

For her mother Andra McCarty, it was her light character.

"You'd be hard-pressed to find somebody that hasn't said Tristan can make them laugh," Andra said. "She's just a very special girl."

For head coach Suzie Fritz, it was her outstanding athletic ability.

"I think she's one of the most improved players from when she started with us to now," Fritz said. "I think she's made as much or more progress than anybody we've got on the team."

Fritz also said Tristan is "very, very coachable."

And for Tristan herself, it was just living a dream.

"I don't think I could have asked for a better situation, just to come here and be at this program that I've grown up around; it's just been really, really awesome," Tristan said. "Just being at K-State has been the greatest thing that's happened to me."

The long road to the present started around third grade, when Tristan, a Manhattan native with one brother, who she says is her hero and best friend, started playing club ball. She played with the same group until high school, when she was selected to the Topeka Elite volleyball club for her last two years before collegiate play. In a story of familial dedication common amongst these top athletes, Tristan's family drove to the state capitol three times a week, and it paid off: the team was seventh and fifth in the nation during Tristan's two-year stay.

In those days, Tristan played all around, but she starred as a hitter.

"I think she has the all-time kills record at Manhattan High, and they didn't even make it to the postseason that year," Andra said.

But when she came to K-State, Tristan was moved strictly to the back row as a defensive specialist, a change with which she said she approves of.

"I'm fine with leaving that behind, because defense is my new love," Tristan said. "I'm OK to leave it to the hitters now."

Andra said her daughter fit in fine back there.

"She kind of says, ‘Mom, my role now is to make someone else look good,'" Andra said. "She's great with that role."

Her readiness to give up the position of hitter might stem from her humility, Andra said.

"Tristan is probably very humble," she said. "Through the recruiting period and things like that, she didn't shoot off her mouth that she was being recruited by some of the big schools. She just kept it very private, and when she made her decision, she kind of kept that very private."

Andra said her daughter's selflessness spilled over onto her teammates, as well.

"She's perfectly fine with just being a great teammate to somebody," Andra said. "I was watching her at the Colorado game, and I told (her father) that I was so excited when she was standing on the sideline and Courtney Traxon got in and got a kill. And I'm not sure if that was one of her first big hits, but Tristan was giving her the double fists with the biggest smile on her face. She was so happy that her teammate had gotten a kill."

But this is not to say that Tristan does not have her own desires, as her father related.

"She was a kid playing soccer, and she hated to get beat so bad that, when they tied, she still thought they won," said her father, Terry McCarty, principal of Manhattan High School. "She hates to lose."

This drive for success will surely aid Tristan in her future career, which she hopes will not stray too far from her current area.

"My dream is to be an athletics director at a university," she said.

Fritz said the athlete was very gifted in academics, and Tristan's 4.0 GPA would not disagree.

"Extremely talented student, like many of them, and works really hard in the classroom," Fritz said. "A very capable student."

Tristan's mother had her own take on her daughter's success.

"I think Tristan's going to be great," she said. "I'm very proud of her. I love her a lot."

And so, back to the original point: Tristan has it all. A lifelong talent in playing the violin, maturity in reading literature on how to become a better student athlete, a height that belies her skill in the front row and a winning personality. What she will do with these gifts remains to be seen, but the future could not look brighter.