Ten hours and 20 minutes. 

That’s how long it took ISU middle blocker Grace Lazard to get to Iowa State, according to Google maps. Lazard, the first international recruit under the tenure of head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch, hails from London.  

“My official visit to Iowa State was my first time being in America,” Lazard said. “I just loved the campus, the coaching staff and the players that were currently here. So it made the decision easy.”

Lazard was regarded as one of United Kingdom’s top volleyball prospects before her time at Iowa State. She made 15 appearances for England’s junior national team, which competes in countries all over Europe.

During her time with the national team, Lazard was England’s leading scorer during the 2013 Youth European Volleyball Championship.

Adding to her competitive prowess, Lazard competed with England’s senior sand volleyball team. 

When Lazard was 16 years old, her notoriety on the international scene allowed her to meet with Catherine Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge. 

Although Lazard is an accomplished recruit, she still had to actively promote herself in America. Lazard sent out emails to several universities. 

“She sent emails out to a bunch of different schools, (including) Iowa State,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Because she had a dream to play in the United States.”

After seeing Lazard’s highlight reel, Johnson-Lynch and her staff made the transatlantic flight twice to visit Lazard in her home country. Iowa State was aided in its quest for Lazard by being the first school she visited. 

After showing the greatest and most consistent interest in Lazard — sticking with her through the entire recruiting process — the Cyclones landed the London star.

She decided to enroll during the spring semester in 2015 to get acclimated to the university and the team. The decision to enroll early has paid dividends for Lazard this preseason.

“She [Lazard] has made a case for herself to possibly start this season,” Johnson-Lynch said. “She is a physical player and has a great presence at the middle blocker position.”

Lazard, a true freshman, still needs to work on several aspects of her game. Johnson-Lynch pointed out Lazard needs to clean up her blocking technique, but Lazard is still putting up great defensive numbers.

Lazard also needs to smooth out her transition from international volleyball to the U.S. style. Lazard said the speed of the game has been the hardest transition for her, but most everything else is similar.

“The intensity seems the same over here compared to London and the ladies seem to have the same mindset like me,” Lazard said.