BUTLER TWP — Determination counts.

And Moniteau graduate Aslyn Pry has stood up to be counted as one of the best multi-sport athletes in Butler County Community College history — excelling in volleyball and basketball — after only a few short months.

The 5-foot-11 Pioneer freshman tallied 199 kills and 27 blocks for BC3 volleyball in the fall. She led the team in blocks, was second in kills, and wound up on the NJCAA Division III all-tournament team as BC3 wound up sixth in the nation. The national tournament was played in Minnesota.

“No way did I believe anything like that could ever happen,” Pry said. “I played volleyball in high school, but we were a small school and our team wasn't all that good.

“When I came here, I was just trying to earn my way on to the court. I knew how good the program was. I just wanted to be a part of it.”

She became an integral part.

“Aslyn showed up here with a lot of talent, but it was raw talent,” Pioneer volleyball coach Rob Snyder said. “She had to adjust to the speed we play with and the different plays we run.

“Freshmen coming in here, they have to adapt to a complicated system. Our players move to outside positions, middle positions and we play at a quick tempo. Aslyn worked hard at it from day one. She made herself into a great volleyball player.”

Pry averaged a double-double in basketball her senior year at Moniteau and was named Butler Eagle Girls Player of the Year. She opted for Butler County Community College and is majoring in physical education with a minor in coaching.

“One of our big selling points to athletes is they can play more than one sport here,.” Snyder said. “You can’t go on to Slippery Rock or Clarion and play volleyball and basketball, but you can do that here.”

Pry wasted no time making the transition from one sport to the next.

BC3’s volleyball team flew back from Minnesota on a Sunday, following completion of the national tournament. The Pioneer women’s basketball team had a game at Lorain Community College in Ohio that Monday night.

Pry was on that bus.

“I made a commitment to play for both teams and I was going to honor that commitment all the way,” Pry said. “It wasn’t an easy thing, but we don’t have many (basketball) players and I wanted to be there for my team.”

She made quite the debut on the college hardwood, tallying 21 points and 23 rebounds in that opener. Pry is one of six players on the basketball team, all freshmen.

“That was impressive,” BC3 women’s basketball coach Dick Hartung recalled. “She hadn’t even had a practice with the team. Pry just went out there and worked her butt off.”

She’s been doing that every game. Through the first 10 games of this season, Pry led all of NJCAA Division III with 19.6 rebounds per game and was second in scoring average with 22.6 points per game.

And those numbers have been going up.

In a recent 66-34 win over CCAC, Pry tallied 28 points, 24 rebounds, five steals, five blocked shots and four assists before being pulled from the game with 6:48 remaining. She played every minute of the game up to that point.

She followed up that effort with a 26-point, 16-rebound game at Prince George CC.

“We’ve had great players in the post here,” Hartung said. “(Julia) Baxter, (Mackenzie) Craig ... Pry is in that league. She has the ability to play at the Division II level. She just needs to get physically stronger and work on going left.”

Pry isn’t worried about any four-year school for now. She plans to return to BC3 next season and play both sports again.

“Getting back to nationals in volleyball would be nice and I think we can do that,” she said. “Our whole basketball team will be back, too, and I don’t think we’ve peaked yet this season.”

Zoey Hillwig, Moniteau’s point guard when Pry was there, plays that same role for the Pioneers as a freshman this season. Pry helped talk her into joining the team.

She had 20 points and 11 boards herself in the win over CCAC.

“I wasn’t planning on playing anymore,” Hillwig said. “Aslyn talked to me and it looked like fun. With only six on the team, we’re obviously playing a lot. I feel like I’ve gotten better and Aslyn keeps developing her game.”

Pry plans to play volleyball or basketball at a four-year school eventually. She just doesn’t know which one.

“I was all about basketball before I came here,” she admitted. “Now I love both sports. I know I’ll have to choose. At this point, I have no idea which one.

“I do know I want to get into coaching a sport down the road. Which sport doesn’t even matter. I know I’ll always want to be around athletics.”

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