If you want to know why Erica Haslag is a Division I recruit, it shows in what she was anxious to do after making her college choice official on Monday.
The Helias senior couldn't wait to get to work on what she'll need to improve upon to play at the next level.
"It's been overwhelming," Haslag said about the recruitment process. "Now it's about finishing up all my admission stuff and making sure I'm getting ready for this season. I'm looking forward to working out in preparation for college - before was about the team and now it's all about me."
Helias coach David Harris said that kind of work ethic is why Haslag led the Lady Crusaders in kills and blocks while leading them to the Class 3 state title with a record of 43-0-1.
"She's very competitive," he said. "She wants to be the best and wants to continue to improve. Those kind of things make you a better player."
Even better than what was evident at a very young age.
"Even as a seventh-grader, she had a lot of athletic ability and potential," Harris said. "But she kept working at it every year and got better every year. She's had that drive to become a better player. Sometimes people with talent don't have that drive and develop it, and she's had that drive and will continue to have it at the college level."
Haslag becomes the fourth Lady Crusader to sign with a Division I volleyball program, joining Julia Whitfield (Southern Illinois-Edwardsville), Kelsey Toebben (Saint Louis) and Anna Murphy (Arkansas State).
"It shows that we produce good volleyball players here in central Missouri and Jefferson City," Harris said.
Haslag, who had verbally committed before the season, made it official Monday.
"The anticipation was amazing," she said. "I'm so happy it's over. My official visit is this weekend, so I'll get to be around the girls and it's almost like I'm on the team now."
The announcement, coupled with a state title and being named an honorable mention Under Armour Girls High School All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, has made the last few weeks pretty interesting.
"It's almost a fantasy," she said. "Winning state was amazing. It's all been great."
Haslag said Bradley was an easy choice once she started looking at the school.
"I started out loving them while taking unofficial visits, loving the girls on the team," she said. "Then their coaches were really adamant about wanting me."
Then there were a couple added benefits to the school located in Peoria, Ill.
"My parents love the Missouri Valley Conference, because there's a lot of schools near Missouri in it and they'll be able to come see me play a lot," she said. "And there I'll be able to major in actuarial science. Not many school have a strong program, and Bradley has a great one."
In case you were curious, actuarial science uses math and science to assess risks in insurance and finance. So it's not like the "general studies" major favored by a lot of college athletes.
"You deal a lot with math, and I'm a total math geek," Haslag said with a laugh.
Haslag will start the club volleyball season next week, then after that, she will be focusing on the workout program Bradley wants its incoming athletes to utilize. She said she'll leave a day or two after the Fourth of July to get in a few classes to acclimate herself to the campus before starting workouts with the Braves.
That's where the work ethic will come in again. Haslag was a middle hitter for Helias who came out for another middle hitter when she rotated to the back row. But the Bradley coaching staff envisions her as an outside hitter who will be on the court for all six rotations.
"I need to work on the transition to the outside spot," she said. "I love the outside. I feel like I'm not big enough for the middle - I jump well enough, I have good hops, but I get a little intimidated in the middle. And I love passing - whenever I have to go out, I just want to go right back in. I'm so excited to go back and be a passer."
Harris said Haslag sacrificed that portion of her game for the team this season.
"If circumstances would have been different, she would have played six rotations this year - we played some in the summer where she showed she could do that," he said. "And middle is not her natural position, but she played it for us. ... Nobody on this team was selfish, they all bought into the team concept."
Haslag's natural athleticism should make any adjustment an easy one.
"I didn't notice it much this year, because she was always in good position, but she could contort her body in great ways and still get a good swing on the ball and get a kill if her approach wasn't great," Harris said. "You can't teach that. That's just something that's natural.
"She has physical gifts - she's always been able to jump well, she has an extremely fast arm - those things obviously help her a lot in this sport. But you see other people that can jump well and have a fast arm who might take those things for granted. She doesn't."