Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)
Dig R Knights: Madyson Chitty
Nov 10 | Women's Volleyball
Madyson Chitty has some pretty "B1G" goals for her first year at Rutgers.
"It's a big, lofty goal, but I want to be on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team," she stated confidently with a smile. "I love getting recognition, but I want to grow as a teammate, I want to grow as a person and I also want to break some records. Freshman year might as well come out with a bang."
Chitty is no stranger to what Big Ten Volleyball is all about, a conference that has sent at least one team to the national semifinals the last 17-straight seasons and 21 times since 1981.
Growing up in Lewis Center, Ohio, the Rutgers first-year was down the street from Ohio State and attended many Buckeye contests getting a first-hand, in-person view of the competition in the nation's top conference.
"In my hometown, if you go Big Ten, it's like 'wow', because not many people do," the defensive specialist/libero said. "If you are talented enough to play in the Big Ten then you know you've accomplished something. There's nothing better than the Big Ten. I'm a really big competitor and I want to help build a program where we are competitors and contenders with other top teams in the Big Ten."
Chitty has come a long way from the first time she stepped on the court.
"I had no clue what volleyball was and my friend wanted me to try out with her," she remembered. "I needed some knee pads, so my dad went to his store and he got me these big turtle shell knee pads, the ones that cover your entire knee. So I wore those big turtle pads with socks that say 'I love volleyball'."
Since then, Chitty has picked up a number of notable scholastic accolades, including an AAU National Championship, Ohio Capital Conference Player of the Year and Central Ohio All-Star honors and over 2,000 career digs. However, she knows her current goals don't come from merely walking onto the court.
"What the coaching staff has been really been pressing on us is effort," she stated. "We need to make 100% effort for every ball. That's how we're going to win games - our effort and our defense."
Defense is this Scarlet Knights' forte having averaged 7.2 digs per set and over 1600 service receptions during her high school career.
"I'm lower to the ground so if a ball is hit really short and into the ground, I can get that faster than if I was taller," she said. "I also think I'm pretty fast, so I can pick up balls quickly."
For any freshman, the adjustment to the collegiate level is a process, but one that Chitty believes has been going well.
There is one particular change in practice for this year, however, that Chitty is missing.
"I'm a big high fiver," she laughed. "Whether it's because you didn't do well and you want your teammate to know that they have this or whether you did amazing job and it's like a double high five.
That's been really hard, but we get to do the elbow bombs in the meantime."
"The balls come a lot harder," she continued explaining of adjustment to collegiate practice. "The first few weeks I had to get used to new hitters and then conditioning and lifting is a really big aspect in college as well. I can tell the difference now. My play just based on the conditioning and lifting, I'm a lot more ready for those long rallies."
"We also do a lot of reps. We do serve-receive from repping it out. I wasn't used to all the reps at first, but you can choose to have a really bad day or pick yourself up."
But if there is a bad day to be had, Chitty has a clear mindset of how to turn things around.
"I think the most important thing in anything you do is to work hard and not give up," she said of the attitude needed to be successful. "If you are not having a good today, you have to be like 'today is not my day" and just do better tomorrow. In those times, that's really where you need to mentally push through and not give up."
Chitty also praises first-year head Coach Caitlin Schweihofer and her staff for not only looking out for her on the court, but off the court as well.
"They are not they're just not all focused on athletics," she noted. "They stress that you need to do well in the classroom in order to succeed on the court. I don't know how else to put it. They make me want to do better for them."
She also credits the team behind the team for making the academic transition to college successful.
"Our academic advisor, Mark (Peterson), has been really great on keeping me on top of things," Chitty said. "We have meetings every Friday to go over we did that week and go over any problems we might have had. That's been good for me too personally at the end of my week see where I am and make sure I'm on the right path."
"I came in undecided, but I think I'm leaning towards sports management with a minor marketing," Chitty said looking ahead. "I love being in the sports world and I want to be in it as long as I can. It's something I love, so I could see myself doing it for a long time."
The Rutgers campus is also another thing Chitty loves noting it as one of the big reasons she committed to being a Scarlet Knight.
"It's so unique," she described. "It has four different styles, four different types of campuses and especially now with it being fall, the leaves on College Ave are so pretty. It's a very college-like atmosphere, which was something I was looking for."
But what Chitty is looking for next is the start of the season.
"I'm excited to play, be in that jersey and be on that court," she said. "It's been a long time coming. I feel like it was just yesterday I was a freshman in high school and so it's crazy that college is already here. I'm going to take advantage of every single second of it."
For previous stories in the Rutgers Volleyball's Dig R Knights Series:
"It's a big, lofty goal, but I want to be on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team," she stated confidently with a smile. "I love getting recognition, but I want to grow as a teammate, I want to grow as a person and I also want to break some records. Freshman year might as well come out with a bang."
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Chitty is no stranger to what Big Ten Volleyball is all about, a conference that has sent at least one team to the national semifinals the last 17-straight seasons and 21 times since 1981.
Growing up in Lewis Center, Ohio, the Rutgers first-year was down the street from Ohio State and attended many Buckeye contests getting a first-hand, in-person view of the competition in the nation's top conference.
"In my hometown, if you go Big Ten, it's like 'wow', because not many people do," the defensive specialist/libero said. "If you are talented enough to play in the Big Ten then you know you've accomplished something. There's nothing better than the Big Ten. I'm a really big competitor and I want to help build a program where we are competitors and contenders with other top teams in the Big Ten."
Chitty has come a long way from the first time she stepped on the court.
"I had no clue what volleyball was and my friend wanted me to try out with her," she remembered. "I needed some knee pads, so my dad went to his store and he got me these big turtle shell knee pads, the ones that cover your entire knee. So I wore those big turtle pads with socks that say 'I love volleyball'."
Since then, Chitty has picked up a number of notable scholastic accolades, including an AAU National Championship, Ohio Capital Conference Player of the Year and Central Ohio All-Star honors and over 2,000 career digs. However, she knows her current goals don't come from merely walking onto the court.
"What the coaching staff has been really been pressing on us is effort," she stated. "We need to make 100% effort for every ball. That's how we're going to win games - our effort and our defense."
Defense is this Scarlet Knights' forte having averaged 7.2 digs per set and over 1600 service receptions during her high school career.
"I'm lower to the ground so if a ball is hit really short and into the ground, I can get that faster than if I was taller," she said. "I also think I'm pretty fast, so I can pick up balls quickly."
For any freshman, the adjustment to the collegiate level is a process, but one that Chitty believes has been going well.
There is one particular change in practice for this year, however, that Chitty is missing.
"I'm a big high fiver," she laughed. "Whether it's because you didn't do well and you want your teammate to know that they have this or whether you did amazing job and it's like a double high five.
That's been really hard, but we get to do the elbow bombs in the meantime."
"The balls come a lot harder," she continued explaining of adjustment to collegiate practice. "The first few weeks I had to get used to new hitters and then conditioning and lifting is a really big aspect in college as well. I can tell the difference now. My play just based on the conditioning and lifting, I'm a lot more ready for those long rallies."
"We also do a lot of reps. We do serve-receive from repping it out. I wasn't used to all the reps at first, but you can choose to have a really bad day or pick yourself up."
But if there is a bad day to be had, Chitty has a clear mindset of how to turn things around.
"I think the most important thing in anything you do is to work hard and not give up," she said of the attitude needed to be successful. "If you are not having a good today, you have to be like 'today is not my day" and just do better tomorrow. In those times, that's really where you need to mentally push through and not give up."
Chitty also praises first-year head Coach Caitlin Schweihofer and her staff for not only looking out for her on the court, but off the court as well.
"They are not they're just not all focused on athletics," she noted. "They stress that you need to do well in the classroom in order to succeed on the court. I don't know how else to put it. They make me want to do better for them."
She also credits the team behind the team for making the academic transition to college successful.
"Our academic advisor, Mark (Peterson), has been really great on keeping me on top of things," Chitty said. "We have meetings every Friday to go over we did that week and go over any problems we might have had. That's been good for me too personally at the end of my week see where I am and make sure I'm on the right path."
"I came in undecided, but I think I'm leaning towards sports management with a minor marketing," Chitty said looking ahead. "I love being in the sports world and I want to be in it as long as I can. It's something I love, so I could see myself doing it for a long time."
The Rutgers campus is also another thing Chitty loves noting it as one of the big reasons she committed to being a Scarlet Knight.
"It's so unique," she described. "It has four different styles, four different types of campuses and especially now with it being fall, the leaves on College Ave are so pretty. It's a very college-like atmosphere, which was something I was looking for."
But what Chitty is looking for next is the start of the season.
"I'm excited to play, be in that jersey and be on that court," she said. "It's been a long time coming. I feel like it was just yesterday I was a freshman in high school and so it's crazy that college is already here. I'm going to take advantage of every single second of it."
For previous stories in the Rutgers Volleyball's Dig R Knights Series:
- Senior right side hitter - Beka Kojadinovic
- Senior right side hitter - Kamila Cieslik
- Junior outside hitter - Anastasiia Maksimova
- Senior outside hitter - Yana Kamshilina
- Junior setter - Inna Balyko
- Senior libero - Mary Kate Painter
- Graduate Student middle blocker - Shealyn McNamara
- Redshirt Freshman setter - Lauren DeLo
- RU -
Players Mentioned
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