With the school year starting up again, there are many new faces on campus — in the dorms, halls and on the athletic fields and courts.
One of these new faces is freshman volleyball player Abigail Archibong. Although Archibong has been on campus since last spring, this is her first year taking to the court.
Last spring she came to Kansas State University and was redshirted, so this will be her first year of competitive play.
Archibong is studying life science at K-State and says she wants to become a family practitioner or dermatologist.
“It’s a little bit of biology and chemistry, and I love science” Archibong said.
For most Division I college athletes, there are many options when searching for school, but for Archibong, K-State just made sense.
“There really is a good family atmosphere here and my sister went here,” Archibong said. “It’s also very close to home.”
The majority of Archibong’s family live in Africa, so having the family that is here close is really important to her.
“I have four siblings and I’m a big family person,” Archibong said.
Not only did Archibong have a new environment to get used to, she also had to get used to a new set of teammates.
“She’s done really well here,” senior defensive specialist and libero Mckenzi Weber said. “She’s also really competitive”.
When Archibong came to Manhattan she signed on with the team as an outside hitter, but last summer she was moved to middle blocker.
“The main thing she has to work on is timing,” associate head coach Jeff Grove said. “But when she reads the set right she does really well.”
Even though most of Archibong’s time is taken up with volleyball and school, she still finds time for hobbies.
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“I really like to draw,” Archibong said. “I’ve recently started drawing canvas sketches and then painting them.”
But her schedule does have have its downsides.
“I have a very busy schedule,” said Archibong. “So I often don’t have much time to meet non-athletes”.
Overall, Archibong said she is still happy to be here because of all the people she has met from different parts of the nation and world. With this being her first season of K-State volleyball she said she is looking forward to making an impact.
“I want to be a consistent player,” Archibong said. “I want to be a playmaker and a leader for the team.”
Weber had this advice for Archibong and all the new players:
“College athletics is not what you think it is, but there are so many opportunities!”
