People ask me all the time why I've stayed around here for so long.

One of the biggest reasons is easy. It's having the opportunity to be around so many great student-athletes through the years, like Madi Fields for instance.

Madi (Madisson) is the Cowgirls' libero and is in the midst of an outstanding senior season which will cap a terrific career.  In fact, the native of Oceanside, Calif, is this week's Mountain West's Defensive Player of the Week.

Bright, personable, focused and passionate about her sport and academics, what's not to love about her?

She is likely to finish here as Wyoming's career leader in digs which would be an incredible accomplishment.  

Yet in her formative years she thought softball was going to be her collegiate career path.

"I played softball since I could walk," she says.  My dad (Steve) was my coach, and that's where my passion was.  I was small and a prototypical leadoff hitter, good contact and speed.  I thought that would be my sport.

"It's weird how I got started in volleyball.  My cousin left a volleyball at our house one day, and I started messing around with it. The next thing I know I'm not playing softball anymore, and I'm totally into volleyball."

Madi ended up playing for one of the top volleyball clubs in the country, the Wave Volleyball Club of Del Mar. With that came a lot of exposure to collegiate programs throughout the country.  She began receiving letters from places like UCLA, Oregon, and Colorado.

"But during the heart of my junior season I got mono and missed most of the year.  A lot of the schools moved on, or offered me to walk on."  Through all of it, Wyoming was there, and still believed in me.  My mother (Tami) told me that I should at least go on my visit to see Wyoming because of that. So, I took my recruiting visit.

"It was so awesome.  I really enjoyed the team and the coaches during my visit. It was perfect for me! But my decision really came down to attending a place where I knew I would get a good education, and  the opportunity to play right away rather than sitting on the bench and maybe playing as a junior or a senior."

While Wyoming wasn't on her radar originally, she couldn't be happier with her decision.  "I stepped out of my comfort zone, and I feel good about that.  It was scary because I'm very close to my family.  I'm not going to lie, my freshman year was tough once the season was over.  There were a lot of tears.  That was really the first time that home sickness sunk in, I guess I was too busy during the season.

"I talked a great deal to my parents during that time about staying or leaving. Finally my mother told me that I could come back to a school closer to home if I really wanted to, but she and dad thought I should  stick it out here.  That advice cemented my future.  I'll be forever grateful that I stayed.

"What I didn't know then, and found out in a hurry, was the passion of the people here.  The coolest thing about this place is the environment, the attention we get.  We are valued by the people of Wyoming.  It's so cool that no matter what sport you're in, they appreciate you.  It makes being an athlete very special." 

Madi will graduate in May with a degree in Business Administration with a minor in Communications. An outstanding student, she will remain at Wyoming and earn an MBA.  Her parents own an electrical contracting business in Oceanside, and having grown up in that environment she would like to own her own business too.  

"I watched them work really hard to make a successful business, and I want to do that. I'm not sure what that will look like, but it will be something that fits my skills."

On top of her sport and school, Madi also works in the athletics department.  She is an intern for Taylor Stuemky who is an Assistant Athletics Director for Internal Operations. 

 "Madi is a rock star," Stuemky says. "She was our intern last year, and was so good that I got approval to hire her as an intern this year.  We'd love to have her as a graduate assistant too if that was possible. Her drive and sense of urgency are phenomenal.  She is so helpful to me with our "Excellence at 7220 program (a student well-being and development initiative).  She plans our events and handles our social media.  On top of it all she is very humble.  Her parents really raised her well."   

Fields' passion for the sport of volleyball and her teammates is contagious.  She lives with teammates Jackie McBride (junior, Aurora, Colo.) and Faith Waitsman (junior, Fayetteville, Ark.)  in a house in the tree area of Laramie.  "We have so much fun together," she says of her roomies.  "They are just the biggest goof balls, and we have so much fun. But what I love about living with them is we talk about lots of things, not just volleyball, and we each have a lot of friends outside of our sport.  Jackie is a communications major and we have classes together which is great too.

"I love our team.  It's the most exciting team I've played on since my freshman year.  We have a very competitive group of girls who love the game and are totally invested. We step on the court every day with passion.  We've played a lot of five-set matches which is an indication of the kind of grinders we are.  I'm really proud of how we have come along." 

Madi is a leadership natural, and enjoys that role immensely. "I'm a very passionate person which I get from my dad.  I value that about myself, and I think it helps me as a leader.  I think I have a voice on the team, and I think I show how badly I want to win.  I hope it's accepted well."

She made a promise to herself to really enjoy her senior year, and not lose sight of the fact that the game is supposed to be fun.  "That's what I'm trying to do, and I am really enjoying this final year.  Honestly, I think I play better when I'm not so stressed.  One thing for sure, I can't believe how quickly it's going by."

As hard as it is for her to believe, Fields is nearing a school record for digs. She never mentioned it, I had to bring it up. 

In her four years here she has led the team in that category every season, and is nearing the career record.  Heading into this week's matches at Utah State (tonight) and Boise State (Saturday), she has produced 1,494 career digs, or an average of 3.88 per set. She needs 190 to become the all-time leader.

"Well, that's something that never even crossed my mind until my junior year when they told me I had reached 1,000. It would be an amazing honor to have that happen but that's just an add-on to a great experience here.  It'll be close, might come down to the last match," she adds.

I asked her if she would rather hit a leadoff home run in softball or produce a dig.  "Oh, a dig," she says without hesitation. "Defense is much more exhilarating.  Digs are tough because the reaction time you have to have makes it so difficult.  My position has got to look at a lot of game tape to understand shot tendencies.  I probably watch more than most, I enjoy watching tape.

Would she send her kids to Wyoming?  "Of course I would.  But if I lived here, I might encourage them to go elsewhere like I did and take a risk.  It will make them grow.  I know it made me grow as a person.  I'm proud of myself that I overcame a lot of challenges.  I came here as a girl and I'm going to leave as a woman."

Madi's quite a woman.