Many athletes report getting involved in their sport because of the fact that their older siblings played. Senior volleyball player Molly Schrantz is no different.
"I started playing club volleyball when I was about 10 years old because all of my older sisters played," Schrantz said.
The Schrantz family has five children: all girls, all volleyball players. The family hobby has turned into a successful hobby at UB for Molly, the fourth Schrantz girl.
Schrantz honed her volleyball skills at Lancaster High School in Depew, N.Y. Her team went undefeated (12-0) during Schrantz's senior season, going on to capture the ECIC Division I Championship and the sectional finals in that same season. She was an all-Western New York selection in both her junior and senior years and an all-ECIC pick as a senior.
She was recruited by a number of schools, but ultimately decided to commit to UB because of its proximity to her home.
"My senior year of high school I got a couple offers from some other places, but I decided that I wanted to stay home and be close to my family and friends," Schrantz said.
Schrantz took home a lot of hardware during her sophomore season in 2002. She was selected to the all-Tournament teams for the UB Hampton Inn-vitational and the WNY Holiday Inn Invitational. She also received the team's Coaches' Award for placing second on the team with 280 kills and third on the team with 248 digs on the season.
As a junior, Schrantz led the team in total digs and digs per game. She also finished third on the team in kills per game. During that same season, Schrantz was named to the all-Tournament team at the UCF Fall Invitational and at the Duke Classic.
This season, Schrantz is playing right side/outside hitter for the Bulls. She also serves as one of the team's co-captains. Over her career, Schrantz has managed to accumulate 738 kills and 774 digs in her first three years as a Bull. She was slowed by a back injury at the beginning of the preseason this year, but Schrantz worked hard to come back strong. In only 58 games this season, she has recorded 139 kills and 147 digs.
Before her playing career is over at UB this year, Schrantz hopes to surpass the 1,000 mark for both career kills and career digs.
"I want to play more consistently, finish off my four years here strong. I really want to reach my 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs mark," she said.
Schrantz is the only senior on the team this year. She said she enjoys the responsibility.
Looking back on her time at UB, Schrantz said the team has changed a lot since her freshman year.
"We've gotten so much stronger as a team since my freshman year. This program has just skyrocketed. It's been a lot more serious, it's definitely changed for the better," she said.
The memories that will stick with Schrantz the most are the trips she took with her team.
"I'll remember all the wins, but last year we went to Florida and we got to go to Disney World, so that was really fun. We also went to Duke; just being there and seeing everything there was really cool," said Schrantz. "This year we went to Montana and we went horseback riding and whitewater rafting; it was awesome."
Schrantz is an early childhood education major and plans to be either a kindergarten or first grade teacher and possibly coach on the high school or collegiate level. She said that whatever she ends up doing, she plans to do it in Western New York so she can stay close to her family and friends.
"I just want to finish off strong," said Schrantz. "I want to be able to say that I put it all out there and I gave it my best and that it was my best year."
