Silver Lake foreign exchange student Camilla Ossola earns volleyball scholarship in U.S.

Camilla Ossola came to Silver Lake from Italy to spend a year as a foreign exchange student.

And in that year, she rediscovered her passion for volleyball. Ossola will stay in the United States to continue her academic and athletic career at Johnson County Community College.

Ossola helped Silver Lake to a 28-9 record with a team-high 223 kills and 62 blocks. She earned First Team All Mid-East League honors.

'I had no clue where Kansas was'

Ossola grew up in northern Italy. She had wanted to come to the United States to study since junior high.

She had been to the United States twice with family prior to coming to Silver Lake, going to Florida once, and New York and Washington, D.C., on her other trip. She wasn't as familiar with Kansas.

"I had no clue where Kansas was," said Ossola. "(I knew) nothing at all. I didn't even know it was an American state."

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Ossola arrived last July a week or two before the fall classes began at Silver Lake. She felt welcome from the start.

Adjusting to the workload school-wise — and even new teammates on the volleyball team — wasn't as difficult as the rules.

"I grew up without many rules here," said Ossola on a Zoom call last week from Italy. "I can do pretty much whatever I want. I have a lot of freedom. When I got there, as an exchange student and as a teenager in high school, they had a lot of rules and I had no idea about that.

"They have curfew. I never had a curfew in my life, and it was so weird. Like be home by 9 p.m., I was like: 'Are you kidding me? I go out at 9 p.m. here.'"

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Camilla Ossola finds her passion for volleyball again

This was Ossola's sixth year playing volleyball. She didn't know how her skills would transfer to the United States. Italy doesn't have school teams, just club teams.

The structure there made her not enjoy the game as much, but she decided to give it a chance in Silver Lake.

"If you're good there, you're just playing on the best team kind of like the varsity team," said Ossola. "I just hated volleyball so much. When I got (to Silver Lake), I was like, 'Oh my god, please just don't make me play volleyball again,' and then when I started playing, everyone made it fun."

Beyond initially meeting Ossola shortly before the season began, Silver Lake coach Sarah Johnson's first impressions of her on the court were positive.

"I saw immediately an athleticism in her," said Johnson. "She had a decent vertical and phenomenal arm swing. There was a pretty high volleyball IQ as well."

Johnson was installing a new system she hadn't run in the past that involved training two new setters. Training them plus adding a new team member was an adjustment that took time and communication.

"A timeframe when Camilla really took off, I remember the Rossville tournament," said Johnson. "We had her in the middle. I saw her hitting out of serve and receive on the right side, on the left side, and I was like, 'Gosh, she's a threat no matter where she's at in the front row,'"

One of those new setters was McKinley Kruger, who met Ossola before the year started when she introduced herself at enrollment.

"At first, it was difficult," said Kruger. "It took us a while to get on the same page, just volleyball and communication wise. I had to get used to words that she didn't really understand or terms she didn't really understand."

But even before volleyball practice had started, Kruger knew Ossola could play an important role on the team.

"A couple of us would go down to the sand volleyball courts and just mess around," said Kruger. "I picked her to be on my team this one time, and she was absolutely smacking the ball out of the sand. It's hard to get up and jump that high in the sand and I was like, 'Yeah, this girl's gonna be good.'"

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Playing volleyball in the United States was different

Ossola said the teamwork and relationships stood out. In Italy, she said team members would change every six months or so and players were more worried about themselves on the court.

"Here, in high school, you've known probably the same people since grade school and then grew up with those people," said Ossola. "Everyone knows each other and they know everything about each other, and I love it so much."

Ossola is shy by nature, quieter, reserved and focused on the court. Johnson told her she would need to buck that trend.

"She was right," said Ossola. "Everyone was always talking and screaming. It helped me so much to get out of my comfort zone and not be shy around people in general, not only with sports. While I was playing volleyball in Italy, I was always mad. If something went wrong, I was mad and would just blame myself for everything and it was not healthy.

"When I got to the United States, everything was fun. Nobody was saying: 'You did something wrong. I'm not gonna talk to you,' It was like, 'No, it's OK. Just shake it off. You'll do it next time.' It's just so much better."

With her talent showing from the beginning, everyone from her host family, Megan and Cody Johnson, to her new friends in Silver Lake were encouraging her to apply to U.S. schools to see if she might be able to continue her athletic career.

"I just think her willingness to adjust, especially to me as a new setter," said Kruger on what makes Ossola stand out on the volleyball court. "I know it was probably hard for her to adjust to me because I had never set my life. She's just a really good teammate.

"If I gave her a bad set, she'd be like: 'Oh, no, it's OK. You'll get the next one.' She's just a hard worker as well, and she'll be ready for that next level."

Shortly into the season, Ossola told Johnson she wanted to extend her playing career.

"This was like two weeks into the season. She expressed to me that she wanted to stay in the states and she wanted to seek out a volleyball scholarship somewhere and play volleyball here," said Johnson. "That was kind of always on our radar."

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Finding a fit with Johnson County Community College volleyball

Ossola was still in contact with her club coach back home and got help from Johnson, who helped set up a profile for Ossola on Field Level. That helps prospective athletes get their information out to collegiate coaches.

Johnson also helped set up opportunities for Ossola with her connections in the sport and the state.

Ossola went to a Washburn University practice and in February, spent some time at Johnson's alma mater, JCCC.

Ossola said she was scared to play with the collegiate players initially but gained confidence after taking the court with them and having a good practice.

"I didn't feel like I was good enough to play there, but actually it felt great," said Ossola. "I know that everything is faster. Everything is just more (intense) than high school, but I love playing like that."

Ossola earned a scholarship offer and signed her letter of intent April 20.

"I felt like something that nobody made me feel while I was in Italy," said Ossola. "When you get a scholarship, you feel good. You're gonna be part of something bigger than you were used to.

"When I got there, I loved Johnson County so much I was like, 'I don't want to see any other colleges or I don't want to hear any other offers, I just want to go there.'"

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Journey to Johnson County Community College had some hitches

With the cost of college in the United States, her parents initially said no to attending JCCC.

"The other thing was that they were really scared, letting me go at 18," said Ossola. "They were just scared of letting their daughter go to the United States. I think was the biggest issue.

"To be honest, 20% of my mind was like, 'They're right,' but the other 80% was like: 'Dammit, I want to go to college here. Why are they not letting me go?'"

Two weeks later, Ossola's parents gave their blessing.

"I literally started crying," said Ossola. "Like, you cannot be serious. You cannot call me after two weeks and say you can stay."

That's not to say Ossola didn't have her own reservations about staying in the United States.

Would her friendships remain? Would she get sick of volleyball in two years?

And what about being so far away from home?

"I get that a lot of students move across the country to go to college," said Ossola. "But I mean, you can get on a plane, and in four hours, you can be there. I have to take like a 20-hour trip."

Ossola went home to visit family. She was supposed to have arrived July 26 but needed to get vaccinated and wait the 14-day period. She will be back on Aug. 9.

"I am so excited. I would die to be there to play volleyball right now," said Ossola. "I just want to get there as soon as possible. I can't wait."

Contact Seth Kinker at skinker@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @SethKinker.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Foreign exchange student in Kansas will stay in U.S. for volleyball