By: Taylor King

One Quincy University volleyball player is a long way from home. Maddie McKeown came to QU all the way from Alaska.

McKeown has a lot of different aspects in her day to day life at home in Juneau, Alaska. She sees beautiful scenery everyday and it is in her backyard most people from the midwest would not see.

“Some major differences to me are not living on the ocean, how flat it is in comparison to Alaska, and the fact that you can drive anywhere here in the Midwest. In order to get to another town or city where I live you would have to travel by plane or boat,” McKeown says. 

She and her family are the only people that have to go to great heights to travel somewhere else in their state.

“The style of living in general due to the location of where I live. Majority of people have boats and are really into fishing and people’s hobbies are greatly involved with outdoor stuff. There’s just an entirely different culture there just due to how isolated it is,” McKeown said. 

Volleyball has been a huge part of her life. After graduating from high school, she wanted to start the recruiting process over again and decided to go to a 2-year junior college in Prescott, AZ, called Yavapai College. This is where she improved her volleyball skills and her education. She had looked at 4-year colleges but none struck her interest. Then, she found Quincy University where she will be spending her next two years.

“The transition has been pretty smooth. While it could be hard to restart and getting to know new teammates, my team here has made it very easy. I feel like I’ve known everyone for a while. The coaching style is different and way better. The level of play is pretty comparable to my conference in Arizona. I can’t complain really,” McKeown said. 

As a leader for the women’s volleyball team she has already made her mark. Teammates love to be around McKeown and love the attitude she has for the game.

“Maddie is the type of leader that truly cares about how everyone is doing. Not only is she very supportive on the court, but she also takes the time off the court to ask about how your day went and if you are doing all right. She is a very positive and optimistic individual which I think that having those characteristics are what makes her such a great leader! As an underclassman, I love how considerate, understanding, and patient she is,” Sara Pate, teammate, says. 

“Maddie is a very encouraging teammate. She has definitely made an impact on this program for only being here for a couple months. I love playing with Maddie because she works hard which causes everyone else to work just as hard,” Lauren Nadler, teammate, said. 

When it comes to living with Maddie she is loved by her roommates they say is a joy living with her.

“Maddie is a great roommate. She is a very kind and funny which makes it even more enjoyable to spend a lot of time together,” Nadler says. 

McKeown says she is unsure about some aspects of her future life. She is majoring in marketing but doesn’t quite know what she wants to do with it. She does think she will move back home after she graduates from QU.

“At this point I know I want to travel and learn more about the world. After I graduate I will work on figuring out what I would like to do for a career but not lose sight of of all the things I should go do while I’m young. I will probably move back home for a little while until I know where I actually want to live. At this point I have no idea where I want to live. Time will tell I guess,” McKeown said. 

Because she comes from such a unique place in the country, she has experienced things and has stories that most people would not normally have to tell. Mckeown recalls a time in middle school that she will never forget.

“When I was in middle school my family was going out to our cabin in our boat and one of the hoses broke and was flooding the boat. It was pretty scary because my dad couldn’t find anything on the boat to plug the hose and we were in the middle of the ocean. My dad asked us if we had anything that could plug the hose and I looked through my bag and the only thing I had that might have worked was a tube of mascara and it actually worked! We would have had to call the coast guard but I saved the day.  My dad ended up naming his boat Revlon,” McKeown explained.