McKinzie signs professional volleyball contract

She joins Kennedy Bryan as the second pro from Tech in last two years

August 24, 2017

BLACKSBURG – Former Hokie volleyball player and 2017 Virginia Tech graduate Amanda McKinzie has signed a contract to play professional volleyball in Couvet, Switzerland for club VBC Val-de-Travers.

McKinzie becomes the 12^th Tech player to play professionally overseas since 2005. She will play for head coach Luiz Souza.

The East Leroy, Michigan native ranked second on the team in 2016 with 3.05 kills per set and 22 service aces while leading the Hokies with a .949 serve receive percentage. She registered 14 double-doubles on the season and was one of only two players on the squad to start in all 31 matches.

She is one of only six players in program history with more than 1,000 digs, 1,000 kills and 100 service aces in a career. The four-year letterwinner left Blacksburg with 1,168 career digs - 10th most in program history.

For more on McKinzie’s journey, read below.

On expectations in the summer to make playing professionally in the fall a reality:
“I first had to find an agent, that was kind of my first step and it was nice because he reached out to me. I liked him, signed with him and then it has kind of been in his hands of doing a good job and my job was to stay fit. When I was home it was a little tougher because I could work out but volleyball wise it was tough. But being back here in Blacksburg has been awesome. They are so nice to let me come in whenever. I did the open gyms with them and now I feel more comfortable to play.”

On if there were any alums she reached out to about the opportunity overseas:
“I’m good friends with Kennedy Bryan (’16) who was a year above me. She has signed with a few different places, so she knows the experience. So I have talked to her and got to know what it is going to be like. I would say she is really the only one that has come back and played with us and I felt comfortable enough to talk to her.”

On if she dreamed of this happening her freshman year in 2013:
“I definitely didn’t see that at that time. I mean, I played volleyball my whole life but when you are a freshman, you are focused on what you are doing in that moment, trying to make the court that year. So, I guess it was in the back of my head, hoping. Everybody has those hopes when they’re young. But I never thought it was going to get anything so serious.”

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