Rise setter Ashley Evans knows the blueprint for any achievement requires hard work and dedication.
Story and photo by Mark Newman
Look up the characteristics of a successful engineer and you'll find qualities such as confidence, diligence, drive, persistence, optimism, and – most importantly – a team player.
If any of those attributes fit Rise setter Ashley Evans, there is a good reason. The Ohio native comes from a family of engineers. Her mom, Ann, and dad, David, met at General Electric, where they were both engineers. Evans and her older brother, Brian, both attended Purdue, a school renowned for its engineering program.
Analytical and introspective, Evans calculates that the conversations around the family dinner table made a positive impact on her life.
"I pride myself on being the best version of myself each day for those around me and my team around me," she said. "I know I have to give 100% in full effort every day.
"I'm not the most naturally gifted athlete, and I've known that since I was a youngster, so I've had to earn every inch I can manage in sports and in all aspects of life.
"I've had to apply myself maybe a little bit more than other athletes who might be a little more naturally gifted, which is not to take anything away from them. But hard work has gotten me pretty far, so I take a lot of pride in that."
Not surprisingly, school came before sports in the Evans household.
"Academics in our family always came first, and that's how I'll raise my kids one day if I'm blessed to do that," she said. "Academics, in the long run, will take me a lot further than volleyball ever will. And while I'm not ready to hang up my knee pads and shoes yet, I know I have a phenomenal background in studies to fall back on, and I'll cross that bridge when I get there."
The 6-foot-2 Evans grew up in Liberty Township, where her high school, Lakota East, was only a few miles from Kings Island amusement park, near Cincinnati. Good grades meant Evans and her brother could spend many hours there growing up.
"We would get our gold season passes, and my brother and I and friends would go whenever we could go outside of sports or summer activities," she recalled. "I practically grew up at Kings Island."
A dedicated scholar-athlete, Evans visited the park at least a couple of times each month during the summer. She started volleyball at the age of 8 but also played basketball, soccer, and tennis.
"My parents were very adamant that we play different things, that we didn't specialize just in one thing until we absolutely had to, and so volleyball, tennis and soccer were my main three. I played basketball maybe for a year and a half but it was not my thing.
"My nickname in soccer was 'Lighthouse' because I was head and shoulders above everyone else. I stuck out like a sore thumb. My first true love was volleyball, but tennis was second. I was nationally ranked in tennis as a 14-year-old.
"I played all three sports for as long as I could, but all three were in the fall season in Ohio for female athletes, so I had to choose. I was incredibly tall and thin, so I wasn't built for soccer anymore, and although I loved tennis, it is a very individualized sport. I love the team aspect of volleyball, so it was an easy choice for me."
Starting at age 11, Evans was coached for three years by her mom, who had played volleyball at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.
"It was a wonderful experience," Evans said. "She wasn't my mom during those times on the court. She was my coach first and my mom second, so she treated me like any other athlete, which I greatly appreciated. And it was a special time, a bonding experience on and off the court.
"She got to a point when I was about 13 or 14 where she said, 'I'm going to give you girls to another coach. I don't want to coach the older girls.' It takes a lot more time, effort and specialization, and she just wasn't in the place to do that, so she handed us off, and it worked out for the best. But it was a great three years."
A two-time PrepVolleyball All-American and a finalist for Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year, Evans finished in the top 10 of her high school's graduating class. There was little debate regarding which college she would attend. Ohio State was never really in the picture.
"I wasn't a huge fan of the Buckeyes, but I don't say that in a negative way," she said. "It wasn't a good fit for lots of reasons. First, it was too close to home for me. I wanted some separation, to be on my own, and not go home every weekend.
"When I stepped on the Purdue campus, it felt like it was meant to be. Purdue was a much better fit for me because a goal of mine was to play in the Big Ten and to study engineering, and I could have the opportunity to do both at Purdue.
"I couldn't pass it up, so it was a perfect situation."
Evans made her Purdue decision as a sophomore but kept it a secret until her brother made his own decision as a senior. "Social media wasn't huge back then, so for about two months, my family and I said, we're not going to tell him. We'll let him make his choice based on what he wants to do.'
"When my brother and I were young, it was always lots of math and science, and that's how our brains work. Being very close as siblings, we both decided to go to Purdue and ended up studying the same thing in college.
"We overlapped for two years, and it was the best, most enjoyable two years of my college career. To have both of us on campus at the same time was a great thing. I would do it all over again.
"It takes a lot of time, effort and focus to study engineering and be a student-athlete at the same time, but it worked for me. I did not have much of a life outside of the gym or the classroom, but I loved every second of it."
Evans was an outside hitter in high school, and while she was a solid all-around player, she didn't do much setting. She redshirted her freshman season at Purdue before starting the process of becoming one of the best setters in the Big Ten.
She credits the tutelage of Dave Shondell, Purdue's head coach, and his brother, John Shondell, a 20-year assistant at the school until he stepped down last fall.
"They recruit athletes who might not be fully developed in the way they want them to be when they first step foot on campus," she said. "During their careers, they give them resources to develop into phenomenal women on and off the court.
"I wasn't a true setter until I entered college but I'm a great example of what they can do. I saw myself entering as an all-around player and exiting as an All-American and now a national team setter with USA. I am forever indebted to Dave and his family."
While she was retooling her game and becoming a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-American, Evans also was rapidly becoming a notable player on the national scene, earning invitations to USA camps, training teams, and collegiate national teams.
"It's been the honor and the highlight of my career to be a part of USA volleyball," she said. "I get chills when I think about wearing the red, white and blue and playing for my country."
Being connected to the national team development pipeline fueled her desire to play overseas after graduation. It was while she was playing overseas that she came across an NBC Sports article about Michelle Bartsch-Hackley, who would later win a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
The article referenced Bartsch-Hackley's connection to Karch Kiraly, the three-time Olympic gold medal winner, who had become head coach of the U.S. National Women's Volleyball program in 2012.
"In the article, there was a quote from Karch that said, 'I receive numerous emails and messages from athletes every summer asking, Is there room for me in the gym?'" And I thought, 'Okay, if other athletes do this, I can, too.'
"So I sent him an email and I said my goal is to be involved with USA in any capacity, whether it be a two-week training block or anything to get my foot in the door. I was being proactive because you never know until you ask. And so I took a risk. But I didn't hear back from him for a good month and a half.
"So I sent him another email, and he was honest in his reply. He takes a lot of pride in his relationships and communication, being very open and transparent. And he said, 'I'm profusely sorry. Your message was sent to spam. I did not see it. I don't have any room in the gym for you this summer, but send me some video and we can be in touch.'
"I thought, 'Awesome. I'll take it.' And so I sent him video. Long story short, fast forward to the end of that summer in 2019. I'm back at Purdue training before heading back overseas. And I got an email from him saying, 'We need a setter for a short tournament and training block. Are you interested?'
"I said, 'Absolutely.' And that's where things took off."
Evans eventually became part of the USA qualifier roster. An untimely injury to another player opened up a spot for her to join the team in Lodz, Poland, for the Olympic Qualifier for the 2024 Paris Games.
The Americans won their final match to book their ticket to France this summer.
While the final roster spots for the U.S. team won't be announced until early this summer, Evans can be reasonably confident that her name is among the two dozen or so women under consideration.
"I'm in the mix, but the probability is extremely small," she said. "Just to be in the conversation is exciting – that's an honor in and of itself. I'm just excited to contribute in any way possible if my name is called."
In the meantime, she is excited to be playing professionally in the U.S. after playing overseas in Spain, Hungary, France, Germany and Romania since the 2018-19 season. Volleyball in Europe has been a mixed bag for Evans.
"Overseas, as a whole, you can find great teams and great coaches, but you can also find difficult situations with management and training and living situations. Sometimes you never know what you'll get," she said.
"I've definitely grown from those experiences and I've enjoyed learning and experiencing the culture of every country and meeting different people. I now have friends all over the world and that's the biggest takeaway for me."
Still, she was excited last year when she met with Pro Volleyball Federation co-founder Dave Whinham, the sports entrepreneur whose career started as a student assistant with the Grand Valley State football team. Her dad was connected to the league through an old business colleague.
"We ended up having dinner and Dave gave me the spiel about PVF and asked if I had connections within the volleyball world to get the word out," she recalled. "I believed in their business model, their organization, and their vision, so I said, 'Absolutely,' and I started putting out some feelers."
She signed to play in Bucharest for the start of the 2023-24 season, but connecting with Rise head coach Cathy George convinced her to come play in Grand Rapids.
Evans was able to deliver the first serve in Rise history.
"It's funny," she said. "I told the team in our little huddle, 'This is the first serve of our franchise, of our season. I'm just putting this ball over the net as a free ball. I'm not going to miss this.' The goal is just to put the ball in play."
Evans put the ball over the net and the Rise proceeded to sweep the Columbus Fury 3-0 in the team's opener on Jan. 25 at Van Andel Arena. While the team has encountered some bumps in the road since that debut, she has enjoyed every minute.
"It's been exciting," she said. "As professional players, we have not had a chance to play in front of family and friends in our home country. And so to be a part of the inaugural season, regardless of what happens in the future, it's an honor to put in the effort to make it a success. I want to make my mark in the most positive way and make the league the best it can be."