Former Texas A&M setter Allie Sawatzky has signed her first contract to play professionally for Renata Valinhos/Country in Brazil. The move comes 5 years after completing a storied college career where she started every match for the Aggies from 2010-2013.
The move was prompted by success at USA Volleyball’s Open Indoor Nationals in May: her team finished first in the Women’s AA Division and she was named MVP. The AA Division is the top-tier classification for regular Club teams
Though not exclusively, USA Volleyball’s Indoor Nationals is a tournament meant for amateur, part-time, and retired players who are still actively competing (or, in some cases, assemble a team for the tournament). Sawatzky said since finishing her college career, she’s been playing a lot of sand volleyball, but it wasn’t until nationals that she got the itch for indoor again.
“Playing in nationals really made me miss playing indoors,” said Sawatzky, who married Michael Colby in October. “I’ve been playing a lot of sand volleyball in Houston, but there isn’t really a big indoor scene around here. Nationals re-sparked my interest, and when my husband mentioned [playing professional volleyball] would be cool to do for a year or two, I agreed.”
Sawatzky set the Aggies to three-straight second-round appearances at the NCAA National Championship tournament as a sophomore, junior, and senior. At 6’2″ tall, the lefty setter had a penchant for for offense in her time in college: she had 745 kills in her career, an extremely high number for a setter, in 452 sets played. That includes 238 as a senior. For comparison’s sake, Texas A&M’s 2017 setter, Camille Conner, had just 116 kills last season.
Since her career ended, the Canadian finished a physician assistant program at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona and began working at a family practice in Houston in November.
“I have another 40 years to be a PA, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I couldn’t pass up,” said Sawatzky, who will be making her first-ever trip to Brazil and joining her new team later this month.
Renata Valinhos/Country finished 11th out of 12 teams in the league last year, winning just 2 of their 22 games for 7 points.
Mariana Galon and Luciana Bezerra were the team’s setters last year. Galon signed with Brazilian squad Curitiba for next season, opening up for Sawatzky.
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