Photo Courtesy of Northwest Missouri State Athletics.
Aplington-Parkersburg alum and Northwest Missouri State senior Kasidy Mohwinkle represented USA Division II Volleyball on a tour of Brazil in May. She was joined by senior teammate Ella Caffery and Head Coach Amy Woerth. Mohwinkle on the opportunity to travel and compete internationally.
“It was a great experience being able to go down to Brazil with one of my other teammates and my coach as well. It was super cool to see the completely different culture that Brazil has and see what volleyball is like in Brazil. It’s pretty different, but it’s still volleyball at the same time. It was a cool opportunity to see how things work down there,” says Mohwinkle. “The girls were great, we all got along. I still talk to a bunch of them, they’re some of my closest friends now. It was super awesome being able to make some close friends. Then playing against those Brazilian girls, they were great. They were so nice. They loved playing against us and loved talking to us the little bit that they could talk to us afterwards. It was just awesome being able to play against them.”
The USA team experienced educational, cultural, and social aspects of Brazilian life, highlighted by a visit to a world wonder, the Christ the Redeemer statue. On the court, the team played matches in Sao Paulo and conducted youth clinics alongside matches in Rio De Janeiro. Mohwinkle on the chance to teach youth about volleyball.
“It was an amazing experience to be able to teach these young girls the game of volleyball. They already knew a lot from a young age, so you could tell that they started from a super young age. Being able to show what I know, put my thoughts out there and being able to touch them in a way was just super cool. Knowing that I left my mark in Brazil is just something that I’ll never forget.”
Mohwinkle ranked third on the team with 260 kills (2.43 kills/set) last season. She had 13 double-figure kill efforts with a season high 14. Mohwinkle on the Bearcats’ offseason work to achieve their upcoming season’s goals.
“We all want to get better collectively and we all have the same goals in mind. That makes working out, pushing ourselves, giving 110%, all super easy. It’s been great. We’re getting lots of extra reps. Being able to bond before the season starts is super important, so that’s been really good. I’d say one of my biggest goals is to leave it all out on the court. I want nothing to be left unsaid. I just want to go out there, give it my all, and do everything I can to help this team be successful and hopefully make it to regionals this year.”
Northwest Missouri State will open their 2025 season at the Fort Hays Tournament in Hays, Kansas on September 5.
