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Just one season ago, Kristen Torre was a senior on the SIUE volleyball team ready to make a mark in her final season in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Now Torre, a Highland native, will play professional volleyball in Germany. The 6-foot, 2-inch middle blocker, who was a two-time All-OVC honoree, signed a contract to play with ProWin Volleys in Saarbrücken, Saarland, a university town near the border of France and Luxembourg.

“It’s scary for me to completely pack up my life and bring it to a whole different country, thousands of miles away,” said Torre. “But it’s something that if you don’t do it now, you’ll regret it.”

Torre will be one of two Americans on the team. Her contract includes housing, transportation and meals.

She earned the spot after competing at an international tournament in Croatia, which followed a record-setting senior season at SIUE. She finished the 2015 season with a school-record .375 hitting percentage. While playing for Team BIP (Bring It Promotions), a scout talked to her about an opportunity to play in Germany. After a couple of conversations with ProWin Volleys, Torre decided to take the next step.

“They talked about the team and what they expected of me,” Torre said. “I felt like it was a place I needed to be.”

SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson said Torre’s participation with Team BIP was a big part of her transformation from college to the pro level.

“When she was picked up to play on that team, part of the reason was because we felt it would expose her to a professional opportunity,” said Johnson.

Johnson provided SIUE game footage as a method of scouting for ProWin Volleys, but it was Torre’s work ethic that put her over the top. From her prep coach to her Team BIP coach, Torre continues to impress with how hard she works in practice.

“She'll take anything you give her,” said Johnson. “She will try it and do it full speed without question. Kristen will be an immediate difference-maker with her speed, power and size.”

Practice is underway for Torre. Games are typically played on the weekend with three practices a week, in addition to strength and conditioning workouts. The practices are done in both German and English with teammates who know both languages to help with interpretation. There also is an opportunity to learn basic German available after practice.

Torre said she wants to learn an appreciation for different cultures as well as share her own training techniques and ideas. Torre will meet up with fellow American Kelsey Chambers, an outside hitter from Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D. Both were education majors. Most of her German teammates have been a product of the club system and have been playing professionally since age 14.

According to Torre, she will need to employ a fighter mentality to keep her professional career going as her contract runs through April.

“One big thing Coach Johnson always told me was to never settle and always expect greatness in yourself and those around you,” said Torre. “The advice I would give my former SIUE teammates is to keep chasing that dream. Don’t stop just because college ends.”

Photo: Kristen Torre.