Here is VolleyballRecruits.net's Get to Know a College Program! Periodically, we are going to share with you interviews with college vballers, who are here to tell you how they chose their program and what it's like to be a part of their college team.

Today's player is Jayde Huxtable, recent graduate of the University of New Hampshire. She chatted with us about what it's like to be a Wildcat and the path that took her there. Huxtable was a defensive specialist/libero for UNH for the past 4 seasons. Here's what she had to say!

On the Recruiting process

In what ways did you make yourself accessible to coaches?

I made myself available through emails, sent out high light videos, and by playing for a competitive club program.

When did you first receive personalized contact from coaches from your program?

End of my junior year.

How often were you contacted by coaches from your program?

Emails and phone calls weekly.

When did you go on campus visits? And what other schools did you visit? 

Whenever I had a free weekend, mostly during the summer and out of volleyball season. I visited other schools such as West Virginia, University of Florida, University of Illinois.

What separated your school from the rest of your top choices?

The team and it’s personality, the beautiful campus, and the great dining services.

Do you have any suggestions for future athletes’ visits?

Be yourself and have fun! Enjoy the campus and the facilities. Explore as much as you can to get the full experience.

What relationship, if any, did you have with current players on the team during the recruiting process?

I got to know everyone during the recruiting process and they were so open, comforting, and welcoming which helped make the decision.

When did you verbally commit? When did you sign the National Letter of Intent? November of my senior high school year.

If anything, what would you have done differently in your recruiting process?

I probably would have visited a few more schools in different regions of the country.

On Being a Student-Athlete

Describe your campus’ location.

The campus is urban and very New England style. It’s beautiful and not too big but definitely not small. Great size and is located very close to the ocean. It is only an hour away from Boston and has very fun surrounding cities such as Portsmouth which is beautiful and on the water.

Please describe a typical class at your school.

The classes vary from lecture to smaller sized. The largest class I had at UNH was probably 300 students. The smallest was 8. It depends on your major and the buildings most of your classes are in.

Are there mandatory student-athlete study sessions?

For my team, the only way the study sessions were mandatory was if you struggle during your freshman year or if your grades were below a 2.5. You have the choice of completing your hours in your dorm room or in the field house athletes study room.

What kind of academic resources are available to student-athletes?

There are very helpful tutors for every subject that are available upon request.

What did you major in? Are there any well-renown majors at your school?

Majored in Journalism, minored in Communications. Our Whittemore School of Business and Economics, WSBE, is very well-known at UNH.

What are off season workouts and practices like?

Off season workouts are just as structured and important if not more than in season. They are very intense but a great time to build your overall strength. Practices are also very structured but not as stressful as in season because the off season is the time for you to grow individually and to work on your areas of improvement in your game.

What was your travel schedule like?

Our travel schedule was definitely do-able with my class schedule. Our coaches try not to work around schedules so that everyone misses as least as possible. Our program is good about making sure professors know our schedule way ahead of time in case student-athletes have to miss classes due to travel. We also allow tutoring on the road and we have assistants who proxy exams on the road in professors allow.

How did you balance volleyball and academics?

Balancing academics and athletics is always tough but very similar to what we’ve been doing for as long as we’ve been playing club and high school volleyball. Time management is a huge priority and I definitely used travel time on buses, planes, and hotel rooms to my advantage because it was great individual and least distracted time.

Describe your living options.

Our coaches prefer that you live on campus for two years and then after than you have the option to do what you’d like. We also try to limit the amount of teammates you live with so that you meet others and have other friends off the team that you can come home to every day. For on-campus housing, there are three different sections called Area 1, 2 and 3. I lived on-campus for two years in two very different dorms; Devine Hall which was in Area 2 and Congreve Hall which was in Area 1. Congreve Hall is definitely one of the nice dorms on campus that all athletes try to get in because it’s a great location closer to the field house. There is a wide range of dorms on campus as UNH is constantly renovating facilities. My final two years, I lived off-campus in a very nice house and really enjoyed being out of the dorms but also missed the on-campus life at the same time.

Describe the athletic facilities.

Like all the facilities on campus, the athletic facilities are constantly being renovated. The volleyball program at UNH is very fortunate to have its own locker room, separated from the rest of the women athletics. Each team has their own locker room but ours is much larger, nicer and is privately sectioned. Our gym is a decent size and is very thrilling and exciting to play in. Our athletic training room is always available and the weight room has also been added to in my four years of attending UNH, so it is constantly improving which is always great.

Was it possible to participate in any extracurricular activities?

Yes! It is possible to participate in other activities. I didn’t have any teammates who did Greek life as well because it is very hard to balance both and I look at it as Greek life is a family and being part of an athletic team is another family. J You can study abroad but really the only time to do it is spring of your senior year when you don’t have any volleyball commitments. Our coaches want everyone to continue to stay involved and in shape through our strengthening program and also strongly suggest coming up early in the summers to take advantage of individual time that can be spent with our strengthening coach, coaches, and to build relations with teammates. I was involved in several extra activities such as Athletes Intervarsity, the on-campus Christian group for athletes and also SAAC, which is the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee that promotes UNH athletics positively throughout the community.

Explain a day in the life of a player during fall season.

During the fall season, you bounce back and forth through classes and practice. Depending on your schedule, your day may start earlier than other due to 8am classes. If you have to miss practice due to major classes that don’t have any other time offerings, the coaches are understanding but would like you to make up that time with them individually or add the time onto another practice. After practices, training or lifting, treatment is required for those who have any types of injuries, small or large, or bothersome areas.