Less than three months ago, it appeared as if Kaylee Manns would be spending a fall semester in Ames for the fifth time.

But this year it would be different.

No longer would Hilton Coliseum be like a second home, and the No. 6 uniform she had become synonymous with over the last four years wouldn’t be a part of her life anymore.

Her decision to stay had been long and thought out, but there was still a fire lingering within the former ISU volleyball standout that told her she wanted more. After a whirlwind of life-changing events, she signed a contract and boarded a trans-Atlantic flight to play professional volleyball in Switzerland.

Now she’s off the plains and living near the Alps, surviving on a few British TV channels and is known by her teammates as the “passer,” not the setter. But through all of the obvious changes that have come with living on a different continent, one thing with Manns has remained constant: her love for the sport of volleyball. 

After all, it’s what led her there in the first place.

At the end of a back-and-forth decision process, her desire to play ultimately overwhelmed her so much that she decided to put her college degree on hold to go through with the incredible opportunity in front of her.

“It was a really tough decision,” Manns said. “But in the end I basically decided to do this without finishing my degree because of how much I love the sport and absolutely missed the competition.”

As a student of the Iowa State Greenlee School of Journalism, Manns is required to complete a three-credit internship before being allowed to graduate. During the past spring she had already begun making plans to play in Europe, but then changed her mind after learning of her remaining scholastic obligations.

She originally turned down several offers from teams in France, Germany and Italy as she expected to intern this fall with the ISU Athletic Department. But the window of opportunity to compete at the highest level is short for any athlete, and she didn’t want to risk being overlooked by teams next season after spending a year away from the sport.

Following more reconsideration, she decided to put her diploma on hold and took the next available contract offer, which came from TSV Dudingen in Fribourg, Switzerland.

“It’s a great opportunity and we were very supportive of her,” said ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “But for us the most important thing is that she finish her degree. If it was someone we felt that if they left they might never come back to finish, I might be more wary. But I’m confident she’ll be back to do that. “

The 22-year-old currently has plans to play volleyball and run camps in Brazil over the summer, giving her little time to work toward her degree between seasons. So, shortly after she arrived in Europe she began searching for a way to make progress toward her diploma.

With playing volleyball in Switzerland’s premier professional league as her day job, she is also interning at an English-speaking events center on the side.

“It’s not exactly ESPN,” Manns said. “But it’s allowing me to do both things at the same time, which is great.”

A native of Topeka, Kan., Manns had spent her whole life living in the Midwest and had never been overseas until this September.

Adapting to life in Fribourg, a college town near the border between Switzerland and France, has been interesting to say the least, but anyone who has met Manns knows she will do just fine on her own.

“She’s very social and will be able to talk to anybody even if they don’t speak English,” joked Johnson-Lynch. “She’s resourceful and savvy and is the type of person that you could drop in the middle of Europe and would be just fine.”

It didn’t take long for awkward situations to present themselves, as Manns discovered upon her arrival that the apartment her team had arranged for her included three roommates, two of which were male.

After rewriting the record books and leading the Cyclones to four NCAA Tournaments and three Sweet 16 appearances, it may surprise few that she won the starting setter job for her new team.

A two-time All-American, Manns is the ISU career leader in assists, is fifth all-time in digs and block assists, and became the first player in Big 12 history to record 5,500 assists, 1,000 digs, 300 kills and 300 blocks in a career. She was the keystone to the program Johnson-Lynch has built in Ames over the last six years, turning the Cyclones from a perennial cellar dweller to a consistent contender.

Since taking over a club that was 13-167 in Big 12 play over the previous nine seasons, Johnson-Lynch has produced a winning record every season and just cemented a place in her fifth consecutive NCAA tournament.

As Iowa State continues to annually produce winning teams and All-Americans, Johnson-Lynch says it is more and more likely to see Cyclones playing abroad, especially since Manns took the first step toward exposing the university on an international stage.

“The overseas leagues are much more popular and prevalent today than they were 10 to 15 years ago,” said Johnson-Lynch, a two-time All-American setter at Nebraska who had very few playing opportunities after she graduated in 1995.

“But it’s a great opportunity and we’re interested in helping anybody that wants to go play there. As a staff we’ve learned quite a bit about the process from Kaylee because she’s the first one to end up over there since we’ve been here.”

Senior libero Ashley Mass is one of several ISU players that have received national recognition at Iowa State, and the two-time All-American says the opportunity to take their game to the next level is something more players will likely consider.

“I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately,” Mass said. “I’ve heard lots of good things from players I know in overseas leagues and it’s something I’m definitely looking into.”

Unfortunately for Mass, the problem of finishing her degree is also an issue. The Big 12 career digs leader won’t graduate from Iowa State until December 2011, making it difficult for her to start forming plans to play overseas anytime soon.

With Manns epitomizing an athlete’s post-college dream, it would be difficult to dissuade a player from taking this once in a lifetime opportunity.

TSV Dudingen runs two-a-day practices every Tuesday and Thursday with matches on the weekends, giving players plenty of time to enjoy their new surroundings. Between trips to Oktoberfest and countryside wineries all while living in a lively European college town, there’s rarely a dull moment for Manns right now.

Things back home may still be a bit shaky, as her diploma is hanging in the balance and life in the real world is still waiting for her around the corner.

But for the time being, she gets to travel and play volleyball for a living, and a brief status update from Manns says it all: “doing what I love, and loving what I do.”

It doesn’t get much better than that.